Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Catholic Church Continues Its Anti-Gay Jihad in Minnesota

While the priestly sex abuse scandal continues to explode in many parts of the world - my Google search agent has turned up much coverage in Australia of late - rather than purge itself of predator priest and make just compensation to victims of child rapists, the Catholic Church continues to push an anti-gay rights jihad.  One of the centers of anti-gay Church activism is in Minnesota where an anti-gay marriage amendment is on the ballot in November.  The lies and hypocrisy are shocking, but par for the course for an institution which has organized a worldwide conspiracy to protect clergy who molest children and youths.  Think Progress has a piece that looks at the latest developments coming out of Minnesota.  Here are highlights:

Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstedt has penned a verbose letter calling on Catholics to support the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, which many priests read to their parishes last week. Nienstedt claims that he opposes discrimination against “brothers and sisters living with same-sex attraction,” yet admits that the entire reason to support the amendment is to keep gays and lesbians from marrying:
First, some ask, “Why is a constitutional amendment necessary?” Well, the fact of the matter is that politicians and activists are working right now in Minnesota to redefine the institution of marriage from one that bonds a man and a woman to any children born from their sexual union into another that licenses the romantic preferences of same-sex adults. [...]

Nienstedt’s letter is an exemplar of cultural abuse, simultaneously feigning compassion while advocating discrimination. It may, in fact, have had the opposite effect, as Catholics for Equality reported an uptick in lawn sign requests, with many reporting they walked out of their churches during the letter’s reading. According to the Facebook group, “I am Catholic. I am voting NO!”, many churches did not even read the letter. Nevertheless, the Minnesota Catholic Conference remains one of the largest donors to the amendment campaign, an alliance between the conference, Minnesota Family Council, and National Organization for Marriage.

Washington [State] Bishop Blase Cupich similarly wrote to parishioners earlier this month, urging them to oppose marriage equality so that opposite-sex couples continue to get “special support and recognition.”
How church going Catholic can reconcile supporting a Church hierarchy which has deliberately protected sexual predators with pushing for discrimination against normal, law abiding same sex couples is mind boggling.

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