In the World

Oppressed by non-discrimination policies?

On Wednesday, the Catholic bishops' ad hoc committee issued a strongly worded statement on religious liberty. It includes a number of specific examples of "religious liberty under attack." Over at U.S Catholic, Meghan Murphy-Gill responds to these one by one.

I like how she dispenses with the claim that laws protecting same-sex unions have "driven local Catholic Charities out of the business of providing adoption or foster care services":

In other words, the state is trying to determine how state money is used for programs funded by the state. Again, this isn’t something I consider an attack on religious liberty. Catholic agencies can continue to provide adoption and foster care services, but they won’t receive the state contracts. And, just like with the claim regarding Christian students on college campuses, it’s pretty hard to see how non-compliance with a non-discrimination policy counts as practicing religious freedom, while not getting to enjoy the privileges that come with compliance counts as an attack.

Read it all.

Steve Thorngate

The Century managing editor is also a church musician and songwriter.

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