NCRegister.com | by Matthew Archbold | Feb. 18, 2010
Everyone talks about equality. But equality only exists in the eyes of God and is, after all, a rather Christian concept. We are all loved by God and in that is our worth. Ironically, many politicians are marginalizing religion from the public sphere in the name of equality. And many see the major obstacle to this enforced equality as Christianity.
Right now, homosexual advocates are marching under the banner of equality. And advancing quite well thank you very much. In fact, just this week the Archdiocese of Washington fell victim to the cause of enforced equality.
The Archdiocese just posted on its website that it’s dropping its foster care program as well as adoption program due to DC’s same-sex marriage law which states that all city contractors must recognize gay couples. The law would force the Church to place children with gay couples.
The archdiocese had asked for a conscience exemptions but city council refused. And this is not an isolated incident. It’s happened before in other parts of the country and will inevitably happen again. Dioceses all over the country will be forced to deal with these issues in coming months and years. Added onto this is the issue of demanding that the Church offer benefits to the partners of gay employees as well as many other issues.
Never mind that true equality would respect differences, this enforced equality seems to insist on stamping out differences. Sadly, freedom of religion is being narrowed into something we’re allowed to do on Sundays.
In fact, Knox Thames, Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, was recently quoted in the news saying that President Obama often refers to “freedom of worship” while not talking nearly as often about “Freedom of religion.”
This should ring alarm bells for Christians, I believe, because “freedom of worship” is something that could be seen as being limited to what’s done inside Churches. It would seem to draw a distinction with freedom of religion which would seem to have many more consequences in the world. The linguistic ploy would seem to narrow religious freedom into something with few real world applications.
So, in short, you can believe what you want to believe but you just can’t do anything about it. You can be a Catholic, just don’t act like one.
HT: NCRegister.com
