Imposing 'Tolerance'
FREE Catholic Classes
Christians Obliged to Approve Homosexuality
By Father John Flynn, LC
ROME, OCT. 30, 2007 (Zenit) - State laws on homosexuality are increasingly creating conflicts for Christians who wish to follow their conscience. In recent days, news came from England of a Christian couple who face being forced to give up their role as foster parents because they were not prepared to promote homosexuality, reported the Telegraph newspaper Oct. 24.
Vincent Matherick and his wife Pauline are registered as foster parents in Somerset County. They are also ministers at the non-conformist South Chard Christian Church. They were recently informed by authorities that they must obey laws that require them to treat homosexuality as equal to heterosexuality.
The couple told the Telegraph that they would neither condemn nor condone homosexuality, and that they could not actively promote it because of their religious beliefs. They have 3 children of their own, and have cared for no less than 28 children.
"We feel we are being discriminated against as Christians, and many others are finding themselves in our position," said Pauline Matherick.
An article published the same day by the Daily Mail newspaper added that the new laws are part of the Equality Act 2006, which make discrimination on the grounds of sexuality illegal. The change comes at a time when the Daily Mail said there is a critical shortage of foster parents, with an additional 8,000 needed.
Freedom of religion
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor strongly criticized the ideology inspiring such laws shortly after their approval, during a lecture given March 28 at Westminster Cathedral Hall. In his address titled "The Kingdom of God and This World: the Church in Public Life," he maintained that, "freedom of religion is much more than the freedom to worship; it is the freedom to act according to that belief in the service of others."
He also warned against a model of a secular state that seeks to totally exclude religious principles. "The choice of the state to side with the secular is said to be neutrality; and it is usually justified by an appeal to equality," Cardinal Murphy O'Connor explained.
"But this is in itself ideology, divorcing religion from the public realm on the pretext that religion is divisive," he continued.
"If equality can only be promoted at the expense of the freedom to manifest our religion, we have reason to question the nature of that equality," the cardinal observed. "It is not, surely, an equality which adequately recognizes the common dignity of all."
One of the consequences of the new laws is to force Catholic adoption agencies to place children in the care of homosexual couples. Recently Catholic Care, one of these agencies, announced it is ending its adoption service as a result of the law, reported the Daily Mail newspaper July 27.
According to the article, Catholic Care, which is run by the Diocese of Leeds, is one of seven Catholic agencies that may be forced to stop adoption services. The law gave the agencies until December 2008 to adapt to the new regulations on sexual discrimination.
The Daily Mail also warned that the new law will have widespread consequences. For example, a Christian printer will not be able to refuse producing material promoting homosexuality, and churches will not be allowed to refuse to rent out conference centers or parish halls to homosexual groups.
On July 30, the Telegraph newspaper published an article reporting on a warning by Meg Munn, a junior government minister, that Muslim or Christian guesthouse owners cannot refuse to accept homosexual couples unless they impose a ban on all couples from sleeping together.
Judge excluded
Just before the Matherick's case came to light, an employment appeal tribunal heard the claim of a Christian magistrate forced to resign because he refused to place children for adoption with homosexual couples, reported the Times newspaper Oct 23.
Andrew McClintock was forced to stand down from the family panel in Sheffield after he was refused exemption from adoption hearings involving same-sex couples. He continues to act as a magistrate for non-family cases. McClintock lost a claim for discrimination at a hearing in March.
During the hearing, Paul Diamond, representing McClintock, explained that his client's objections were based on the conviction that placing children with homosexual couples was an experiment in social science.
The Church of England has also run into problems with anti-discrimination laws. A tribunal ruled in favor of John Reaney, a homosexual who was refused a job by the bishop of Hereford, Anthony Priddis, reported the Telegraph newspaper July 19.
An employment tribunal found that Reaney had been discriminated against on the grounds of sexual orientation when he was refused the post of a youth worker in the diocese.
Bishop Priddis said that in his evidence he had made it clear to Reaney that a person in a sexual relationship outside marriage, whatever their sexual orientation would be turned down for the post, according to the Telegraph. In addition the bishop said that Reaney's behavior was contrary to Church teaching and had "the potential to impact on the spiritual, moral and ethical leadership within the diocese."
Marriage ceremony pressure
England is far from being the only country where Christians are feeling the pressure of anti-discrimination laws.
In the United States, an Ocean Grove church group is suing the state of New Jersey, reported the New York Times, Aug. 14. The group complained that authorities are pressuring them to allow a civil ceremony for a lesbian couple at a pavilion they own on the oceanfront.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association originally denied a request in June by Harriet Bernstein and Luisa Paster to hold the ceremony on Sept. 30. The couple then lodged a discrimination complaint with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. In reaction, the group filed a suit with the United States District Court to defend their religious rights.
Then there was the case earlier this year in New Zealand, where a homosexual Iranian won asylum while another Iranian, a Christian, was denied the same status. According to a Feb. 9 report by the New Zealand Herald, the Refugee Status Appeals Authority allowed Ahmad Tahooni to stay, even though in his original appeal he had claimed asylum on political and not sexual grounds.
Meanwhile, Thomas Yadegary, also Iranian, converted to Catholicism after arriving in New Zealand in 1994. He was arrested in November 2004 and his application for refugee status was rejected. Yadegary argued that Muslims who convert to Christianity face a potential death penalty in Iran.
"What kind of hypocritical double standard is in place, among this country's immigration officials," asked Auckland Catholic priest, Father Peter Murnane, in a Feb. 7 press release by the New Zealand Catholic Communications office.
Ideological campaigns
The promotion of homosexuality is not only affecting religious liberty, but is also taking on the tones of an ideological campaign of promotion. On Oct. 24, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on a campaign being launched by the Italian region of Tuscany against anti-homosexual discrimination.
The photo depicts a newborn baby with a hospital bracelet on its arm, bearing the word "homosexual." Plans call for thousands of copies of the photo to be distributed in the form of brochures and posters.
According to Alessio De Giori, president of the Tuscan branch of a pro-homosexual lobby group, ArciGay, is to convince people that homosexuality is not a choice but is something immutable and genetically determined.
The photo was immediately criticized by the Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, reported the Italian news agency ANSA that same day, who said that the organizers had gone too far in their campaign. Increasingly, a tolerance for differences is a concept homosexual advocates have removed from their vocabulary.
Contact
Catholic Online
https://www.catholic.org
CA, US
Catholic Online - Publisher, 661 869-1000
info@yourcatholicvoice.org
Keywords
Tolerance, Homosexual, Gay, Flynn
More Catholic PRWire
Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716
A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain
Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul
A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell
My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz
Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell
Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online
Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online
Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online
Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online
Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online
Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online
Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online
Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online
Full Circle
Robert Gieb
Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite
Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony
Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell
World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online
Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA
Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online
A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe
Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly
Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard
The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely
Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow
A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow
Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea
Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard
Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol
Edging God Out
Paul Sposite
Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow
George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online
Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell
Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey
Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite
Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol
Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol
Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online
Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online
Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online
Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online
Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online
Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online
Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol
Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.
-
Mysteries of the Rosary
-
St. Faustina Kowalska
-
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
-
Saint of the Day for Wednesday, Oct 4th, 2023
-
Popular Saints
-
St. Francis of Assisi
-
Bible
-
Female / Women Saints
-
7 Morning Prayers you need to get your day started with God
-
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Daily Catholic
- Daily Readings for Thursday, October 31, 2024
- St. Wolfgang: Saint of the Day for Thursday, October 31, 2024
- Memorare: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, October 31, 2024
- Daily Readings for Wednesday, October 30, 2024
- St. Alphonsus Rodriguez: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, October 30, 2024
- Prayer to the Holy Spirit # 2: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.