Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Obama's LGBT Executive Order And The Bishops' Disingenuous Protests

Yesterday the Messiah Most Miserable issued a dictatorial fiat executive order stating that no federal contractor can "discriminate" in its personnel practices based on employees' gender identity and/or sexual orientation.  Churches and related organizations are NOT exempted.  The USCCB pitched a fit.  My question is, "would this order of Obama's had been a blip on their radar screens if they had been exempted?"  Given prior behaviors, I must opine that had Obama exempted churches, they wouldn't have given a rat's rump regarding the matter.

But since the USCCB and so many of the dioceses are officially on the federal dole for so much of their budgets (e.g., those huge grants to facilitate the Central American child-trafficking scheme), they are in a panic now that it appears that their gravy trains may be pulling into the station.

John Zmirak posted quite a cogent piece on Aleteia, to which I now link.  I'll post one key paragraph below.  I'll elaborate on emboldened phrases below.

The short term impact of this on faithful Christians will certainly be unpleasant. Let’s assume that the leaders of the major Christian communions (Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical) stand on principle.  Churches and charities that won’t collaborate will lose billions of dollars in federal funds that they had previously dispensed, channeling taxpayer money to serve the poor, recent immigrants, and others eligible for federal poverty aid. Groups such as Catholic Charities, some bishops’ migration offices, and others will see their budgets slashed. They will have to scale back their services, as the needy whom they had served get their needs met somewhere else -- by church groups which decide to play Judas, or outright secular agencies. The Christian groups that had relied on federal money to carry out their missions will have to look to their own church members for more donations, or their impact and clout will diminish.
  • "Channeling taxpayer money".  This means, ladies and gentlemen, that through these "federal contracts" or "grants" or whatever you want to call them, the Church had been joining the state in dipping their grubby mits into the wallets of each and every one of us.  That is not charity; that is theft.  There is concern that the Church may be denied this "opportunity for money"; in reality, they will have removed from them an occasion of sin against the Seventh Commandment.
  • "Catholic Charities..will see their budgets slashed."  I guess that means no more "needle exchange programs" as offered by Albany Catholic Charities or "Centennial Awards" being bestowed on the likes of Sister Carol Keehan or Fr. Theodore Hesburgh.  Read this link for more reasons why we should rejoice that Catholic Charities' budget might be slashed.
  • "Christian groups..will have to look to their own church members for more donations."  Imagine that!  Christians being challenged to dig into their own pockets and fulfill their own Christian responsibilities.  In short, they'd be abiding (finally!) by the principle of subsidiarity.  That's how it should be done - not by clamoring for tax increases for everyone else.
If the Church is serious about being the Church of Jesus Christ and not some glorified social concerns agency, the bishops will immediately commence the process of weaning themselves from federal teats.  I suppose that means that Archbishop Lori would have to recant his recent request for a federal grant to bring illegal immigrants to the St Vincent Villa in Timonium.  What are the chances of that happening?  It may happen sooner than our bishops think - thanks be to God!

1 comment:

  1. This Executive Order will create a schism among the American bishops. When the cash cow stops, all the hospitals, universities, schools, social service agencies, and food pantries that are sustained by Federal monies will SHUT DOWN, and the bishops will freak out, call a meeting, and approve the right of the State to compel immoral behavior. You heard it here. I wrote it. Now watch it happen.

    ReplyDelete

Please be respectful and courteous to others on this blog. We reserve the right to delete comments that violate courtesy and/or those that promote dissent from the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.