Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The Church and Today's Supreme Court Decision

10 years ago, the Church wrote a document warning about decisions like the one we have today from our Supreme Court.  The document is entitled

CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION TO UNIONS BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS

Click here to read it.  I wonder how often it has been preached on?  I wonder how many Catholics (priests or otherwise) have ever bothered to read it?  It isn't nearly as entertaining as all of the entertainment options that we have out there (computer games, tv shows, movies, Netflix, etc.) but if you want to do something positive to try to save the Republic then do the following

1) read the thing by clicking here

2) then read it again (click here) figuring out "how can I succinctly help someone else understand what is in this document?"

3) then go succinctly help someone else understand what is in this document


15 comments:

  1. Well, when the USCCB only promotes economic issues that are financially beneficial for them while staying silent on moral issues, when we hear sermons on being joyful Christians instead of being convicted Christians, and the leaders are silent at the pulpits regarding homosexuality, the leadership allows DignityUSA to be promoted at Catholic parishes and the USCCB is silent on repeal of DADT, this is what you get. By the way, where is your video?

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    1. The Unnatural Law video? We said it would take about 9 months, and I actually leave tonight to join the film crew for a few days. They are out on the East Coast doing a ton of interviews. Hopefully the video will be done Septemberish.

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    2. I don't know what world you live in. The USCCB has been plenty vocal about moral issues, especially this one.

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    3. Yes, the USCCB has wonderful info regarding traditional marriage on its website that faithful Catholics look at...and a lot of Catholic and secular do not look at. Yes, priests and some bishops have written and spoken about traditional marriage. Thank God. I've been watching the lobbyist for the Catholic Church in Indiana the past 5 years. When I say the USCCB, I mean their lobbyist and what they push by way of email.
      They send emails informing those who are politically active on what the Church promotes. The promoted universal healthcare...Obamacare with 'abortion neutral' language. During the lame duck session they promoted the START Treaty(reduce the nukes), the DREAM Act(amnesty) and when repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell was voted on there was silence. In other word, there wasn't an email to call your representative regarding this legislation. Why? This has lead to conscience rights problems for our military chaplains. This repeal has caused all sorts of problems but the USCCB and their lobbyist were silent! I look at it this way, out of the three pieces of legislation the most clear cut moral one was regarding Don't Ask Don't tell and yet they said nothing! There are various just war theories...someone could argue that nukes have stopped world war the past 60 years or that our nukes protect American citizens. The Dream act, someone could argue that amnesty was already tried with Reagan and it didn't work so why are we pushing this particular bill. Yes, I think we need to reform the immigration system but not in a massive bill which they are currently pushing.

      There is a prevalent push towards democratic socialism by the USCCB and their lobbyist. Pope Benedict, in 2008, wrote that democratic socialism is the closest thing to Catholic thought in First Things article titled, 'Europe and its Discontent'. He and the leaders are for redistribution of wealth and so have taken billions in gov't money(our tax dollars). Catholic Charities takes in 4 billion a year and gets 65% of their money from the gov't.

      Our leaders have already succumbed to the HHS mandate in both NY and California. Read Judie Browns article from American Life League called, 'Catholic church has already succumbed to HHS mandate'. In NY and California the Church is paying for abortion and birth control in employees insurance. Here in Indiana, I heard from a board member that St. Vincent emergency rooms are giving out plan B.

      Our Church talks about evangelizing but true evangelizing is standing firm in the faith always. Obviously, their businesses have taken precedence over Truth. So while I too read encyclicals and documents that are beautiful, when the rubber meets the road, the leaders are all too human. They get their gov't money from the democrats...joined Jim Wallis(socialist)'Circle of Protection' which during the budget discussions lobbied that their entitlements should not be cut! Collecting gov't money goes against subsidiarity. Feeding the poor eventually becomes a business. You pay employees and then must make sure you keep them employed. Ultimately, you become an arm of the gov't..and eventually they control you!

      So, this is the world I live in...watching the politics of our Church. It isn't pretty..would you like to know more?

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  2. Father, thanks for the encouragement to read that document. While we can read blogs til the cows come home, it's good to be directed straight to the magisterium, which in this document is unambiguously clear. (Can't do much better than a document from JP II and B XVI !)

    Anonymous while I share your frustration with the seeming laxity of many of the hierarchy and clergy, there are bright spots, too. The USCCB's site, Marriage, Unique for a Reason, is excellent. Check it out at http://www.marriageuniqueforareason.org

    Father, many prayers for the video that all involved might be able to do an exceptional job of capturing the fullness of truth and love, thus being able to win both minds and hearts.

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  3. I'm taking the recent declaration of the SCOTUS as a Thank-God-for-Our-Enemies moment. As the utter emptiness of same-sex "marriage" sinks in, its proponents will start trying to prop up this barren tree by coming up with modern versions of the old Test Acts--that is, as a condition of employment, benefits, etc. people will have to quasi-legally affirm the validity of these "marriages". It will be a trial, but one of the benefits is finding out who's going to stand with the Church and Truth, and who is just faffing about.

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  4. Father...
    I will take your advice and read the document referenced above. I was saddened to hear of the courts decision today, but pleased to see that Cardinal Dolan immediately condemned the decision.

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  5. I wonder if Nancy Pelosi's read the Church's position. Especially section IV.
    We can thank Pelosi and her kind for setting the stage for todays rulings.

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  6. I am new to your blog and have been skimming some of your conversations with people on the topic of homosexuality. I noticed that you said "our religious liberty will be taken away and we will be persecuted" a lot. I am not disagreeing, but simply inquiring the logic behind this statement. I, as of now, fail to see the connection between the tolerance of homosexual marriage and our (I assume you mean Catholic) (tell me if I am wrong) persecution and loss of religious liberty. Just trying to clear things up. Thanks. Jah Bless!

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    1. Allowing couples of the same sex to marry has HUGE implications for religious liberty. The Church does not and will never consider two men or two women or a combination of men and women to be a marriage. The Church will clearly be impacted when it refuses to perform marriages that the government would consider valid.

      Also, how quickly it will become wrong or "hate speech" to simply teach what the Church teaches. This is a slippery slope argument, but here I'm not trying to argue something, I'm simply saying it is pretty clear that we will be going down that road. I point this out not to say that the first reason to opposed same-sex "marriage" is because it will impact our religious liberty...that impact is merely something for Catholics to note.

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    2. Shenanigans. The Church already refuses to perform marriages the state deems valid. This is antidotal, but I am aware of multiple co-habitating couples who have had to marry outside the Church, or find a Catholic Church outside their home parish that would perform the marriage. The government in all 50 states certainly considers a non-Catholic man and a non-Catholic woman to be a valid marriage, yet the Catholic Church won't marry such a couple.

      Everyone's a victim. Please. Get over yourself.

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    3. Shenanigans. The Church already refuses to perform marriages the state deems valid. This is antidotal, but I am aware of multiple co-habitating couples who have had to marry outside the Church, or find a Catholic Church outside their home parish that would perform the marriage. The government in all 50 states certainly considers a non-Catholic man and a non-Catholic woman to be a valid marriage, yet the Catholic Church won't marry such a couple.

      Everyone's a victim. Please. Get over yourself.


      Sorry, but I fail to see your point because even though the Church refuses to marry co-habiting couples or non-Catholic couples (Why exactly would they want to be married in a Catholic church?), the Church does recognize such marriages as natural marriages and thus, valid marriages. A formerly cohabiting couple now married would be able to participate in the Sacraments (they should go to confession for the cohabitation of course, and now that I think of it, I can't imagine a priest refusing to marry a couple that repents of their cohabitation) and also married non-Catholics can be received into the Church and have their marriages sanctified.

      In short marriages among male and female non-Catholics are still real marriages, marriages by male and female cohabitors are still real marriages. Same-sex marriages are not, and never will be real marriages no matter how many legal rubberstamps are put on it.

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  7. Briefly, the logic is that evildoing always wants either accomplices or at least approval. If one won't give it, then that person must be silenced, bullied, criminalized, or even destroyed.

    We already have real examples of this. People have been fired from their jobs for refusing to affirm same-sex "marriages". Parents have been denied the ability to opt children out of sex-ed classes where homosexuality was taught as normal. And one lesbian who converted to Christianity had to flee the country with her daughter because a court insanely awarded custody to her creepy ex-"spouse" who had no biological connection to the daughter whatsoever. Of course the Usual Suspects cry "Fugitive!" and "Criminal!" but she is only a criminal in the sense that the people running the underground railroad were criminals under the Fugitive Slave Act.

    This is only going to get worse. A student can get a doctor to carve up his body and inundate him with hormones so that he can pretend he is a girl and even get the Massachusetts Department of Education to force his classmates to acknowledge he is a girl. (see here), but if you are a psychologist who successfully treats homosexuals to live normal heterosexual lives, you will get a frivolous lawsuit from the Southern Poverty Law Center for your trouble.

    You may not see it now, but evil never sleeps.

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  8. Eventually the churches teaching will respond to our societies trashing of traditional marriage. first, looking to 1st Corinthians St. Paul discusses marriage and the break up of marriage when a non- Christian is involved. I assume over the centuries the church gradually formalized and further defined its marriage rules. So much so that today if a baptized catholic marries a non-Catholic Christian outside of the church without church approval, then the catholic person rightfully should not receive communion. And if that couple divorces an annulment is guaranteed because of the mistake the catholic made when entering the state authorized marriage.
    So going forward- eventually the church may divorce itself from all state authorized marriages, completely ignore them the way it was prior to Martin Luther. Wow this would stream line the annulment process because effectively the church would only recognize marriage as valid if it was within the church. granting annulments would be about as frequent as in Henry the 8th's day.
    The silver lining will be, Church Sacramental marriage will be restored to the dignity, and holiness it deserves.

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  9. Father, what are your thoughts on Exodus shutting down? (the largest ex-gay ministry in the US.)

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