Catholic Church in Adoption Rumpus

[mirrorshard]

There's two things I really don't get about this business. First, the Church are claiming that complying with anti-discrimination regulations (binding on organizations accepting government money) and placing children with gay couples is against their principles.

If you'll excuse my language - bollocks it is. Their religious principles, even the bad, wrong, counterproductive ones that say homosexuality is a sin (and if I recall correctly, that's from Leviticus. The same book of the Torah Bible that prohibits the wearing of mixed fibres, advocates the death penalty for witches and women taken in adultery, and lays down the Jewish dietary laws) have nothing whatsoever to say about accepting government funding. With the option of going it alone freely available, suggesting that their religious principles are being compromised is complete nonsense.

Secondly, the Church are claiming that if they don't get an exemption, they'll have to scream and scream until they're sick close their four adoption agencies, which between them place 200 children a year. "Oh, no," they say. "It's not a matter of sulking at all. We'll just have to close for lack of funding if we can't accept the conditions attached to your dirty dirty government money."

If you'll excuse my language - bollocks they will. This is, let me remind you, the Catholic Church we're talking about. The same millennia-old incomprehensibly rich organisation that spent most of its existence running a substantial fraction of the globe. The same guys who, for a long time, more or less defined civilised Western society... we used to call it 'Christendom' for a reason.

And they're telling us they can't afford to run four adoption agencies, in the faith-based charitable sector, with all the cheap labour costs that that implies? My heart goes out to them, really it does.

Whoever's using the World's Smallest Violin, please pass it back, the Catholic Church needs YOU.

Comments

[fjm.livejournal.com]

Funding isnt' the issue. They'd be breaking the law even if they didn't accept state funding.

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Interesting article in today's Independent on the difficulty of finding head teachers these days. Apparently the faith schools find it hardest to recruit, with the Catholic faith schools really struggling.

Many of the people who work for the Catholic adoption agencies might actually disagree with the Cardinal's statements. If forced to discriminate openly, I wonder how many staff will drift away? Never mind the disproportionate number of lesbians I meet who are social workers of some kind.

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

Funding isnt' the issue. They'd be breaking the law even if they didn't accept state funding.

Hm, good point. Most of the arguments I've seen against it have focused on the terms-and-conditions aspect, rather than the outright-illegal aspect.

That's an interesting point about staffing difficulties, too - that could well be a much more likely reason for them to have to close than lack of funding would be.

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

Oh hell yes, my ex-girlfriend (as gay as they come) did a stint in social work and said they're largely queer there.