Hypocrites

According to an article in The Washington Post,

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

These are the same guys who protected pedophile priests and transferred ownership of some properties in some dioceses to the Vatican to prevent the accused dioceses from having any financial holdings that victims of pedophile priests could sue for, right?

Those guys. The guys who established recovery centers for priests caught in pedophilia where they could be hidden away, treated, and then sent back out to work with children again, right?

Those guys.

Now if the District of Columbia extends equality to loving American citizens, the Catholic church will stop feeding homeless men, women and children. Maybe they could hold their breaths and stomp their feet as they turn blue too.

It's too bad you can't see the smoke pouring out my ears as I write this.

Council Member Mary Cheh called the action "childish" and asks "Are they really going to harm people because they have a philosophical disagreement with us on one issue? I hope, in the silver light of day, when this passes, because it will pass, they will not really act on this threat."

Cheh may be more optimistic than I am about the church's rigidity on this issue.

(But I'll betcha that there are still pedophile priests who have not yet been caught by the local authorities, who are out there working with kids...)

Just yesterday I read that the Vatican has taken a stance on gay tourism. Apparently it considers that when gay people visit a Catholic church, it is a form of "building abuse," according to Bishop Janusz Kaleta of the Holy See (the central government of the Catholic Church)

The church teachings are from the Bible. If we change this teaching, we will not be the Catholic Church. Don’t expect the Catholic church to change these issues, because it is our identity. I consider if someone is homosexual, it is abuse of our buildings and our religion. If you have different ideas, go to a different location.

(Child abuse = OK if you don't get caught; building abuse = Not OK)

So gay people should cross Rome off of their travel destinations because you will not be welcome in St. Peter's Basilica or any of the historic churches in that city -- or any other city, for that matter.

I wonder just how closely the good Bishop reads the Bible he is so fond of spouting.

I always loved the speech that President Jed Bartlet gave to the Dr. Laura-like character on The West Wing. It was based on a "Letter to Dr. Laura" that made the rounds of the internet some time ago and continues to pop up whenever someone new stumbles across it. Among the questions Bartlet asked the Dr. Laura-like character were the following:

I wanted to sell my youngest daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She’s a Georgetown Sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?

While thinking about that, can I ask another? My chief of staff, Leo McGary, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? Or is it okay to call the police?

Here’s one that’s really important, because we’ve got a lot of sports fans in this town. Touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point?

Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side?

Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you?

It would be nice of the good Bishop would think about those questions too, before suggesting that it would be an abomination to allow gay people to visit Catholic churches.

It would also be nice for the archdiocese of the District of Columbia to think about those questions before it stops feeding hungry children because the government decided to grant equality to all people, not just to some people.

In situations like these, what do you really think Jesus would do? Take bread out of the mouths of hungry children to make a political statement? I don't think so.