I love it when Catholic politicians—usually liberal Democrats—tell the Church what is and is not moral and what the Church can and cannot do with regard to morality. Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi said the other day that he will oppose an exemption from state law for Catholic Charities so that they can continue to provide adoptions without having to place children with gay couples.
“The state’s top priority should be placing children in loving and caring homes, regardless of adoptive parents’ race, ethnicity and sexual orientation,” DiMasi (D-Boston) said in a statement.“Denying same-sex couples the right to be considered is discriminatory and runs counter to the principle that all citizens are created equal.”
This is pandering pure and simple and it’s a clear sign to the Church. In the past, state politicians—Catholic or not—took the Church seriously and would usually support her requests because if you ticked off the bishops, you would probably lose Catholic votes in one of the most Catholic states in the country.
But it’s a different era now. For one thing Catholics don’t vote according to their bishops’ prompting, or even Catholic belief, anymore. This had changed a long time ago, and the Scandal only made everyone well aware of the Church’s loss of political influence. Now, the big group that politicians bow and scrape to are homosexuals. It’s not that they are numerous in the population, just that they carry political power far beyond their numbers. They tend to have a lot more wealth than the average person and are more willing to work for (and against) political causes. They also tend to support their causes and politicians with open wallets. In other words, pandering to the homosexual lobby garners campaign funds and votes.
This leaves the Massachusetts bishops in quandary. They’re not going to have an easy way out. They either have to stop all adoptions to stand by this principle or they’re going to cave. Not a tough decision for me, but then I’m not a bishop.
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