RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ATTACKED IN BOSTON

 

 

 

David M. Bresnahan
March 12, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

Who decides the policies and beliefs of a church? In Massachusetts it is the state.

The Roman Catholic Church in Mass. announced Friday that it will no longer provide adoptions through Catholic Charities in that state, because that church will not place children for adoption with parents who are homosexuals. The state law requires non-discrimination.

Rather than comply with a law the Catholic Church says is harmful to children, the adoption services that have been going on for more than 100 years have ended. Even though the majority of residents of the Commonwealth of Mass. are Catholic, news reports claim the majority of lay members are at odds with the teachings of their church when it comes to homosexuality.

The Catholic Church has never been ruled by vote of the members, and the present Pope has spoken firmly on the subject.

Pope Benedict XVI claims to speak for God and in 2003 issued a doctrinal statement opposing same-sex unions and declaring that ''allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development."

Conservative Republican Gov. Mitt Romney quickly announced that he plans to file a bill that allows religious organizations to seek an exemption from the state's anti-discrimination laws to provide adoption services.

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

Catholic Charities has placed 13 children with same-sex couples, according to news reports.

I am not a Catholic, and neither is Romney. Both Catholics and non-Catholics alike should be outraged and should be shouting loud and long. We all need to defend the right of a religious denomination to have their beliefs unmolested by government. You may disagree with those beliefs, but your church may be next. If the state can dictate the policies and beliefs of one church it can do the same with others as well.

In the effort to force a church to behave, teach, or believe a particular doctrine you are in effect trying to get all churches to believe the same thing. There is a reason Baptists are not Mormons, for example. It always seems strange to me that a person of one religion criticizes people of another religion for not believing as they do. Of course Mormons are different from Baptists. If they weren’t then they would all be Baptists. What happened to our freedom to believe as we wish and allow our neighbor to do the same? We need to rejoice in our differences and defend them.

Someone who belongs to ABC Church may disagree with the beliefs of people in XYZ Church, and that is their right. However, it does not mean that one group must force their beliefs on the other. Instead, we must all come to the aid and defense of a group that is being dictated to by government. If the freedom of one group is taken away the freedom of all is lost.

Massachusetts seems to think that diversity is only something that is good as long as everyone complies with the state-approved beliefs. It is hard to be diverse when we are all forced to be the same. Sounds like social Marxism to me.

Some religious denominations in Mass. have no problem with the requirements of the law in that state and provide adoptions to homosexuals. That is their right to do so. Since the Catholics did not have a monopoly on adoption services, my point would simply be that homosexuals have many choices of agencies.

Intolerance by extremists is obviously harmful. Many people are now without a valuable service, and the burden of those services must now be handled by others. Let the Catholics provide adoptions to those they wish to serve, and if that list does not include you then what is so difficult about going to the many, many other agencies that will welcome you with open arms?

Massachusetts is the location of the birth of this nation where brave men gave their lives to rid this land of oppression from a tyrant dictator in England. I have walked the trail from the home of Minuteman Isaac Davis to the Concord Bridge where he gave his life as the first man killed as a result of the shot heard around the world. Today he is turning in his grave.

This year I will return with my Boy Scout troop to walk that trail again and I will teach them about the freedoms our founding fathers gave their lives for, and which we now see being trampled by an enemy far more dangerous and ominous than were the “Red Coats.” Fortunately after a short visit I will be able to leave Mass. and return home to New Hampshire the “live free or die” state.

Every freedom-loving American should shout loud and long to protest any effort by any local, state, or national law-maker or bureaucrat to take away the freedoms this country was formed to protect. Just because I do not live in Mass. does not mean I should not stand firmly for what is right and speak out for change.

© 2006 David M. Bresnahan - All Rights Reserved