Gob bless Illinois judge John Schmidt (yes, Gob). When that state’s Catholic adoption agencies decided to close rather than let gays adopt in accordance with Illinois’ new civil unions law, the adoption agencies turned around and sued the state for suddenly ending its 40-year contracts with the charities without warning or reason. That’s right—when the state refused to renew their contracts with the Department of Children and Family Services, the Catholics sued for their “legal right” to keep discriminating against homos and unmarried couples. Luckily, the judge had none of it.
The judge wisely avoided any arguments about LGBT and religious rights as to avoid arguments about any religious exemptions in the state’s civil union law. Rather, he said that the state can choose which contracts to renew, 40-year history or no. He then ruled against the Catholics and God smiled because God loves gay people.
Cam
How convenient it must be for these organizations. Any time you don’t like a law, you just page through your books until you find an obscure text you can interpret to support your bigotry, and then just claim that these laws don’t apply to you because of your religion.
Gee, my religion says not to pay taxes and that the leaders of the nation I live in are supposed to buy me homes in warm tropical places.
Will Congresswoman Bachman be respectful of my religion and abide by it’s dictates for me?
LOrionmd
It is already up on ‘Catholics for Equality’ fb page. If you happen to be Catholic (or exCatholic) do support that fb page.
the crustybastard
@LOrionmd:
“Catholics for Equality”? LOL. Sounds like “Nazis for Human Rights.”
Nobody — NOBODY — should support any organization designed to accommodate the belief that it’s more important to be Catholic than to be principled.
And no, the Vatican insists that you cannot be both, and what they say goes — end of discussion. If you don’t like it, pick another religion.
Joe
ALL RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING!!!
Riker
@the crustybastard: Do you have any idea how hard it s to give up a religion that you were born into and indoctrinated with?
I was born a Roman Catholic in a family that was mildly religious, but I still went through the whole sunday school process. Even though I renounced my faith and consider myself something more like a Deist now, I still find comfort in some of the trappings of Catholicism, like going to confession whenever I do something particularly nasty and feel guilty about it. Even though I don’t believe God is listening or cares, it still feels good to be able to get it off your chest without paying a therapist $200 per hour.
Besides that, I live in a Catholic-heavy area. Most of my neighbors are very nice, compassionate people who couldn’t give a damn about who I fuck. These are the types of “Catholics for equality” that need to be courted. The kind that was raised in their religionand believes it, but doesn’t take marching orders from the Pope.
the crustybastard
@Riker:
Yeah, I know precisely what it is like. Having principles can be difficult, but I find it far more rewarding than engaging in superstitious rituals.
No, I won’t “court” any Catholics, much less the particularly delusional ones you describe. The money they contribute toward their religion finances and perpetuates the discrimination I suffer under my government.
The Catholic Church is a voluntary membership organization with a shocking and appalling history that operates on the presumption that women and gay people were created morally and spiritually defective. One cannot nullify that voluntary membership by purchasing the liberal indulgences sold by “Catholics for Equality” or any other group.
MikeE
@the crustybastard: remember, the United States government is an organization with a shocking and appalling history of abusing minorities and invading other nations.
you can’t use an organization’s past to deny its present membership the chance to redeem themselves. Many Catholics believe in equal rights for all. Many Catholics regret and disagree with the hierarchy of their denomination’s close-minded stance on social issues.
If there are enough Catholics who are FOR equality, then THOSE are the Catholics who will eventually effect change within the denomination. Those who choose to work for change from within deserve at least a modicum of respect.
Riker
@MikeE: Unfortunately, there isn’t much that laypeople can do about it. The Cardinals, most of which are very conservative even by Catholic standards, choose the Popes. They’re likely to choose a conservative one. The Pope promotes cardinals, and is likely to go with like-minded ones. The institution as a whole is very well insulated from social pressure to change.
That said, we can still hope.
the crustybastard
@MikeE:
By what mechanism will your Catholics “effect change”? Do you imagine they will vote out their bishops and cardinals?
The Catholic church is an absolute monarchy that has changed little since the feudal era because that’s what is working well for the autocrats. It is by design that the Church’s nobility are fully insulated from the the flock. The pope appoints the body that determines his successor. Policy is made at the top and delivered top-down and only top-down, and it has ever been so. There is no obligation the pope consult anyone before making a decision that all Catholics are obligated to treat as if delivered by God itself.
If you cannot abide by the law and policies of Catholicism as promulgated by the Vatican, have some integrity and do what Martin Luther and Henry Tudor did — but don’t pretend that individual parishes are autonomous or have the slightest amount of impact on the Holy See. They don’t, and you know it.
the crustybastard
@MikeE:
Finally, it is true that the United States hasn’t always acted according to the Christian principles of justice and equality. However, the US wasn’t founded to promulgate Jesus’ teachings. The Catholic Church was. That’s one difference.
Meanwhile, the United States has gone to some effort to atone for 160 years of ill-treatment of indigenous peoples, women, and racial minorities. The Catholic Church, having indulged in considerably greater brutality for at least 10 times longer, can scarcely concede that might have been wrong, and they’ve done little to nothing to atone or compensate. They still treat women as capable of little more than breeding and janitorial duties. There’s another difference.
Gaytorium
A damn good judge it looks like. A lot of discrimination issues will probably have to be resolved in the courts going forward as opposed to via legislation. Even gay marriage is somewhat of a judicial issue as a marriage is a contract which the government is not allowing some people to enter into. I would be surprised if instead of seeing a repeal of DOMA we see the courts overturn it.
Mike in Asheville
@MikeE: @the crustybastard: @Riker:
Can this truly be Queerty? Thanks to you for a good debate about this story. I enjoyed seeing your arguments through your eyes (well, words, of course). My excommunicated ethnic Hungarian/Welsh mother and non-religious ethnic Hindu/Jewish-Protestant Dutch father raised my brothers and I in a non-religious home — so I do not know what it is like to have to fight the conflicting religious principles and individuality principles. I appreciate that you have expressed, in civility and sincerity your views, the conflicting and the complimentary. Well done.