And as we know, sin always has consequences in the afterlife and often in this present life.
Ladies and gentlemen, the basis of this post's title is found right in the Seventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Steal. It doesn't matter if the stealing is sanctioned by law (after all, is not baby-murder and sodomy now sanctioned by law?), stealing is still sin. It is NOT an acceptable venue for "charity", for true charitable giving must stem from an act of free will, not governmental extortion.
Why don't Catholic charitable organizations accept that truth? Lured by the smell of what they perceived to be "easy money" (and with the connivance of leaders with marxist mindsets), many Catholic organizations took the bait - and on account of their own shortsightedness and stupidity, fell into a rather obvious trap. When President Bush rammed through his ill-advised "faith-based intiative" nonsense, many of us saw the pitfalls but failed to make others see them. The fact that at the time a relatively benign president was at the helm lulled them into a false illusion of assurance and complacency. Now that illusion has been shattered and the lemmings are now howling.
From ChurchMilitant.com we read news of the sprung trap. Here's the first sentence: "A source within the federal government has informed the Friday Fax that the White House is quietly moving forward with a policy change that will require charitable humanitarian groups to accept LGBT applicants in order to qualify for government funding, even those religious groups that might have religious objections." Naturally there's whining and gnashing of teeth. Many of these "faith-based" recipients are crying "foul" when they've been playing foul all along by accepting funding that has been bilked from the wallets of already-strapped taxpayers. Boys and girls, can we say "crocodile tears?"
We've seen in this blog alone many examples of the anti-Catholic actions of Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Campaign for Human Development. It is no accident that these agencies derives a significant percentage, if not majority, of their funds from governmental agencies at various levels of government. In order to keep the federal faucets flowing into their coffers, these organizations have literally sold their Catholic souls and in many cases are working to advance anti-life and anti-God agendas. They probably have the blood of many unborn babies and the damnation of countless souls to their credit - all for the receipt of the proverbial "thirty pieces of silver".
The real solution to this dilemma is simple and necessary, although it won't be easy. We see it in the first sentence of the article, particularly the underscored portion. Here it is, spelled out. Stop seeking after and accepting government funding - NOW! These groups cannot have it "both ways"; you accept the government's money by accepting their rules. That's a fact of life. The charities must decouple from the feds at once if they are to maintain true independence from governmental interference. They must stop playing the little piglets and immediately wean themselves immediately from governmental teats. They must accept the fact that if they cannot fund their ventures from voluntary donations, the venture is not theirs to undertake. Of course they can stop paying salaries of several hundred thousands of dollars to their CEOs and other perks.
If they insist on salivating after government funds, they deserve all the grief from government that they can get - and not one red cent from true Catholics.
Alas, that would make sense, and under this pontificate, don't count on anything changing.
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