Friday, March 10, 2006

O'Malley Takes Ball and Goes Home

Bulletin...Bulletin...Bull

Catholic Charities has added a new level of spite and illogic this afternoon. It announced that if it can't discriminate, it won't play and it won't place kids. It will stop adoptions after the Archbishop's first failed power play on preventing same-sex couples from adoption even hard-to-place children.

There was no immediate word on whether they would stop suddenly or hope this plays out in their favor in the legislature.

The AP reports that "we have encountered a dilemma we cannot resolve," according to a joint statement from CC president, Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, and CC chair, Jeffrey Kaneb. "The world changed often and we adapted the ministry to meet changing times and needs. At all times we sought to place the welfare of children at the heart of our work."

Of course, in the real world, the resolution is not difficult. Like any other church, your social service work, any side businesses, kitchens for the poor and on and on, fall under some government oversight and laws. What you do in the pure religious side is your business -- discriminate to suit yourself, not matter how dreadful that seems to many. On the blended operations, play by the rules. It's not hard.

Some RC legislators may be fretting now about how they can beg Sean's team to please reconsider. That treatment would be extortion and should be flat out.

On the other hand, when supporters see how disgracefully CC avoids its social duties to prove that they are anti-gay, we can hope that the financial aid and the volunteer energies go to groups that care more for kids' welfare.

Afternoon Update:

The earlier version has some new details and background in the revision. Most important, CC will turn its back on adoptions on June 30th of this year.

Our POTUS-seeking governor, Willard Mitt Romney tried to gain political advantage shortly after the initial announcement. He will play to the right-wingers by filing the doomed exemption for CC -- let them break the law.

He actually said, "This is a sad day for neglected and abandoned children. It's a mistake for our laws to put the rights of adults over the needs of children."

For the rest of us, let us keep in mind who is tampling the needs of the children...to make a pro-discrimination point.

Our commonwealth's highest official, sworn to uphold its laws, continued, "While I respect the board's decision to stay true to their principles, I find the current state of the law deeply disturbing and a threat to religious freedom."

Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, went with honest instead. She said,"All of the homes were good and loving home and now through the pressure of the bishops Catholic Charities is being forced to get out of the business. There are no winners here. The children are the ones who suffer."

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi supports the anti-discrimination law. Church and state, you know, or most of us know.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Extraordinary that you criticize the organization for choosing not to play by rules that offends its religious principles. Law making, particularly that aimed at forcing changes in belief systems, has consequences, as out Legislature has learned today. So when is GLAD planning to set up an adoption agency to pick up the slack?