The Hub of Politics

... and according to the Boston HERALD, it's all The Church's fault!

Paging Barry Lynn! Rev. Lynn? Catholic Charities on Line One!

Oh, never mind. Many of us have long suspected that the "Wall of Separation" between Church and State actually has many doors. Evidently, they only open one way.

As announced on Friday, Catholic Charities, in response to a Massachusetts law allowing for adoption by homosexual couples, said it would stop providing adoption services - so as not to run afoul of another state law, that one being the state's law against "discrimination".

The social services arm of the Roman Catholic archdiocese, which has provided adoption services for the state for about two decades, said the law runs counter to church teachings on homosexuality.

"The world was very different when Charities began this ministry at the threshold of the 20th century" the Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, president of Catholic Charities, said in a joint statement with trustees chairman Jeffrey Kaneb. "The world changed often and we adapted the ministry to meet changing times and needs. At all times we sought to place the welfare of children at the heart of our work.

"But now, we have encountered a dilemma we cannot resolve," they said.

Indeed.

So how did the ostensibly non-leftist paper in the Boston Metro area spin this news news? Why by blaming the Catholic Church, of course. You silly Papist! What did you expect? Cannot have The Church get in the path of secular progressivism, can we. Nope, can't have that.

Let's start with the front-page story - complete of course with a picture of a loving - heck, doting! - lesbian couple and their adorable 4-year old adopted daughter (nope, no attempts to spin the news there - move along, folks):

Children awaiting permanent homes across the state are in danger of lingering in foster care as Catholic Charities of Boston pulls the plug on its adoption business rather than allow gay couples to start families.

Church's fault! Biggotry! Church hates gays! You get the picture already and it's only the first line in the piece.

But wait, it gets better. Let's go to the first (and one of only two) quotes in the piece:

"I think it's absolutely immoral for the bishops to have sacrificed these childrenÂ’s lives and stability for dogma," said Marianne Duddy-Burke, an adoptive mother and spokeswoman for the lesbian and gay Catholic group Dignity Boston. "Caring for vulnerable people is so much the core of what Catholic Charities does. ... I can only imagine what pressure the bishops brought to bear on the board."

Oh, and Ms. Duddy-Burke 1) is obviously an expert in Catholic Doctrine, Teachings and morality, 2) clearly is nothing more than a dispassionate observer, and 3) is someone who, I suppose, possesses "absolute moral authority" on the subject.

Sez them.

State law allowing gays to adopt runs counter to church teachings that such adoptions are "gravely immoral." But over the past 20 years, 13 of the 720 children Catholic Charities has adopted out have gone to gay couples.

Ah ha! Don't you see it?!?! Hypocrisy! Thy name is The Church! Because Catholic Charities went against the teachings of the Church in the past they should continue to do so in perpetuity!! But they won't! Because they hate gays!

Moving-on to the 'hard-hitting editorial' - "No need to cave to bishops' tactics":

The halting of all adoptions by Catholic Charities announced yesterday by the Boston Archdiocese is incomparably sad - but it is also a move state officials should make no effort to remedy.

Yet it's all about the children, right?

Simply because the state's four Catholic bishops have chosen this fight - even in the face of opposition from members of their own community of faithful -

of course, none of them are mentioned anywhere in today's paper, so once can only assume the Editors are referring to this bunch of grandstanders, moving along...

is no reason for secular leaders to attempt to amend state policy to allow a form of discrimination that would not be permitted by other agencies.

Like I said above - Heaven forbid! the Church stand in the way of the march of secular progressivism.

Heaven forbid! indeed.

The Big Finish™ for the editorial...

The Department of Social Services said some 682 foster children are currently awaiting adoption and the bulk of those will be handled directly by DSS. And so life will go on - without the participation of Catholic Charities. That's unfortunate - but more unfortunate for the agency and its mission than for the community as a whole.

And I'm sure the DSS will do the same great work we've come to expect from them. But no matter, that will be The Church's Fault® as well of course.

But the Herald wasn't done yet. Oh no. Not by a long shot. Just to get a flavor, let me give you the title, and the title only, from an outrageously condescending, unctuous, piece of Krap written by a pair of professional do-gooders (social workers) that appears on the same page as the "hard-hitting editorial"...

Bad-faith pitch for bigotry

It gets better from there.

Now that's balance for you.

For the record, the Boston Globe's coverage of this this story was today and has been recently, if anything, more balanced than was/has-been the Herald's. But for a couple of columnists in the Herald and a vastly superior sports page (sorry Dan, your colleagues drag you down) I would be canceling my subscription effective today.

Let us be clear about this: if Doctrine states that homosexual acts are "acts of grave depravity", that they "are contrary to the natural law", that "(u)nder no circumstances can they be approved" and that they who are inclined to practice such acts "are called to chastity", then it is no stretch at all to conclude that to place a child in the hands of a couple that practices such acts would be gravely immoral. (Note: for those of you waiting to jump on me for the passage in the CATECHISM I skipped: it's very simple - you do not get to determine what represents "unjust discrimination". The Church does, and they have spoken on the subject. If you don't like it, you have two options.)

Further, if the above is indeed is to be held as Truth, then the idea that the State can compel The Church to participate in an action that is found to be "gravely immoral" is, put simply, reprehensible and deplorable.

That the Boston Herald would participate willingly - no, enthusiasitcally - in this slander is a testement to just how far "journalism" has fallen in the United States.