Headsup: MI archbishop denies communion to gays wearing rainbow sash

[Nothing Without Hope]

LBN Thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1452000

Thread title: Gay Catholics To Be Denied Communion

From the wording, he'll give gay people communion as long as they're not SAYING they're gay. We knew this was coming with Ratzinger and Opus Dei in full power.

[BR_Parkway]

1. Might sound weird for a gay guy to say this - but why can't a religion do

what they want? They are more than free to think/believe/teach what their version of things is - it's up to the parishioners to decide what they will or won't subscribe to. While it truly sucks that gay people are being discriminated against - I think it's tilting at windmills.

I choose who I hang out with, I choose who/what/where I worship (or don't), I choose what I beleive and create the relationship I want with God/Goddess as I decide is right for me. I don't want any other group telling me what I have to believe, I have no right to tell them what they should either.

Now, when they start moving into injecting their beliefs into my politics or daily life, we have a different issue. But I think that gay Catholics creating a fundemental change within a church so steeped in history/tradition is much less likely than Log Cabin Republicans creating a welcome spot for themselves at the current RW trough.

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. To me, it's tied up with their tax exempt status. We ALL pay to support

the churches. When they exclude a section of the tax-paying population, they should lose the tax-exempt status. If a church were a private club, run entirely on donations from its members, then I would agree with you; they could restrict their membership and do what they wanted. But that is NOT the case under current law. I'm wondering what the legal language is on that - is there language that says that the Church must be open to all citizens?

[BR_Parkway]

4. I always hear about the tax exempt, but it makes no sense - the

church down the street pays property taxes just like I do on my property. I don't know what the rules are about sales taxes. Various charities exist to serve specific niches within the population - so they are pretty well discriminating too. Yet they don't pay taxes on money raised as it's not income under the typical definition. I wouldn't want to see that changed for all over some bad apples in the bunch (Waynesville Baptist and Focus on the Family come to mind)

I would much rather see corporations pay their share of taxes instead of all this offshore tax haven BS the current code has.

And NO, the legal language starts in the Constitution and it's pretty clear - Congress will make no laws regarding the establishment of religion. And since I don't want them to be able to poke their nose and rules into the local MCC church that will bless a gay couple getting committed in a religious service (regardless of the legal issues there) then I can't very well say that they should be able to define for the Catholics who and who can't get communion. Do they even allow divorced members to have communion?

[Ian David]

7. I would agree, so long as the church kept out of secular affairs

Unfortunately, they declared war first.

[davidinalameda]

3. this is nothing new

most of the time that the Rainbow Sash members go to services, they're denied communion

[Brian_Expat]

5. Religions should be able to do what they want. . .

. . . as long as they don't abuse their tax exempt status through direct participation in the political process.

Excluding gay people, women and minorities from the Catholic Church, after all, only weakens it over time. They're destroying themselves, why try to stop that? It's beneficial in the long run if one of the organizations most devoted to anti-gay bigotry eventually collapses as a result of its own stupidity, and judging from the massively increasing priest shortage and the huge pending judgments in church child rape judgments, that day isn't far away.

They're not in a good position, financially or from a public relations perspective, to be posturing as "moral authorities" and unapologetic absolutists.

[Ian David]

6. Being gay gets to excommunicated. Molesting kids gets you promoted.

No one expects The Spanish Inquisition!