The nostalgia wing of the Roman Catholic Church is a busy place. Ever since the misguided days of Vatican II, the folks in Rome have relentlessly charted a course toward a new renaissance...by attempting to reestablish the old Renaissance. The years since Pope John XXIII attempted to enlarge the Catholic tent, Rome has been winding back the clock. Mass in Latin has been reinstated. Prohibitions against birth control, married priests and women priests have been reinforced. Attempting to undo the English Reformation, the Church has reached out to disaffected Episcopalians. Now, the Church in Rome is attempting the grandest coup of all: namely, to reassert itself as a temporal power.
So this week the Archdiocese of Washington has threatened the D.C. City Council, should the Council adopt an amendment permitting gay marriage. In return for this presumed heresy the Church has vowed to close all of their social service facilities including their homeless shelters. Beautiful! The Archbishop Donald Wuerl, takes exception to the end of discrimination against gays and decides to take his ball and go home. To hell with the 68,000 people currently receiving aid from the Church. Screw the homeless! Close those shelters. Imagine how Archbishop Wuerl would have responded to the Emancipation Proclamation? Would he have moved the Church to South Africa?
The ecclesiastical fig leaf being used as cover by the RCC is that, if the law passes, they might be required to extend employee benefits to gay spouses. Please! The Catholic Church is attempting to use its financial muscle to block a change in D.C. law to which they take exception. Oddly, they haven't threatened to close their schools. They have requested an exemption from extending benefits to same sex couples. In other words, please let us continue to discriminate because we don't like your life style.
Fortunately, the D.C. City Council sees this for what it is: the Catholic Church's attempt to force it's outmoded and discriminatory will on the City of Washington. Councilman Phil Mendelson has labeled the Church's threat as a religious attempt to write civil law. He categorizes that as a dangerous idea. No such threat has been made in Massachusetts, Vermont or New Hampshire but those areas haven't had the training in arm-twisting that is the hallmark of political life in Washington. By Christmas, gays will have the right to marry in the District of Columbia.
Meanwhile in the Archdioceses of New York, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, eager to turn water into whine, has taken to the blogoshere to protest perceived shabby treatment at the hands of the (Jewish-owned) New York Times. In a Sunday op-ed piece by Maureen Dowd, the RCC was taken to task for its treatment of women, especially nuns. Archbishop Dolan wrote a rebuttal which those Christ-killers at the Times refused to print. Dolan's point is that the Catholic Church receives undo criticism that would never be tolerated were it directed at Muslims or Jews. The pedophile scandal of recent years is dismissed as having been perpetrated by a "tiny minority of priests". Presumably, had it been ignored by the press, it would have solved itself.
If Rome wants to play in the political arena in the United States they should expect to be treated like any other political entity. You cannot attempt to influence the secular world by supporting or condemning politicians and their actions, then hide behind your status as a religion when the spotlight shines back on you. Jews are treated as a religion because they act like one. (Anyone who believes that Muslims are receiving deferential treatment is delusional.) The Catholic Church is actively lobbying for social change. They are trying to use their power to influence law.
OK, that's fair. However when you wade into a fight with your fists up, don't complain if you get a bloody nose...even if you are wearing a dress.
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