Morality of joining the ACLU

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HomeschoolDad

HomeschoolDad

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Would it be permissible for a Catholic to join the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)?

It is true that they promote abortion rights, contraception, and LGBT rights (the latter including inoffensive things such as anti-discrimination in housing, jobs, and so on, which no one, including LGBT people, should suffer from).

However, from what I see, they also do a lot of good — freedom of speech, civil rights, free exercise of religion (which, keep in mind, includes our freedom to profess our Catholic faith), social justice, and much more.

Given this, I have wrestled with whether to join or not from time to time. It’s largely a moot point for me, as my post-retirement income forces me to be very frugal when it comes to non-essentials — I allowed my memberships in the NRA and AARP to lapse for the same reason. But would it be licit for a Catholic to become an ACLU member? Thoughts?
 
I think like with being a member of any organization that openly supports abortion, you have to weigh why it’s so important. If you believe the organization is the only organization capable of supporting a cause you believe to outweigh abortion then it’s a matter of conscience.

I also admit strong prejudice against the ACLU for many of the things they fight for that are beyond-the-pale wrong in my opinion.

Those being said so you know my own bias, I’d argue that a Catholic who could support the ACLU either lacks knowledge of other orgs that support freedom of speech and DON’T support things like abortion (and others I could go into), or needs a very serious examination of conscience. I haven’t looked into it, admittedly, but I am sure there must be other orgs fighting for what you are talking about that aren’t also supporting infanticide. 🙂

tl;dr: It may be a matter of conscience for the individual, but I’d argue that a well-formed conscience would find another organization to support. 🙂
 
Delphinus said:
If you believe the organization is the only organization capable of supporting a cause you believe to outweigh abortion then it’s a matter of conscience.
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It may not be the only one, but it is the “800-pound gorilla” that gets things done in the civil liberties arena. When you see the ACLU going to bat for someone or something, that is definitely taking out the big guns. Put another way: your civil or religious rights have been violated. As with Ghostbusters, “who you gonna call?” 👻
 
I subscribe to their action alerts to write to my elected officials when important civil liberties issues arise. Years ago, I even collaborated with my local branch to protest the PATRIOT Act.

Bottom line? I’ll work with them on relevant issues, but I won’t give them a dime. That’s the best arrangement I’ve worked out as a Catholic. 🙂
 
blackforest said:
I subscribe to their action alerts to write to my elected officials when important civil liberties issues arise. Years ago, I even collaborated with my local branch to protest the PATRIOT Act.

Bottom line? I’ll work with them on relevant issues, but I won’t give them a dime. That’s the best arrangement I’ve worked out as a Catholic. 🙂
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I hadn’t thought of that. Sounds good to me.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
Would it be permissible for a Catholic to join the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)?
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Sure. It’s a matter of individual conscience whether to join, and also how to participate once you have joined.

The ACLU is not out to destroy the church, nor is it promoting an agenda clearly against Church teaching. They basically stand up for underdogs wherever they find them. Sometimes the underdogs are the Church or are people/ causes the Church would support; sometimes they’re not.

Having said that, I don’t give them any money myself. I would prefer to contribute to animal charities and to the missions. When I used to give to First Amendment/ civil rights causes, I usually picked the Student Press Law Center.
 
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I liked them when I followed them on Twitter. However, to my surprise they didn’t support laws to raise the marriageable age to 18 & laws to stop people over 21yo marrying 18yo. So there’s another moral dilemma in supporting them.
Nevertheless, I’d do what blackforest suggested.
 
D.Erasmus.R said:
However, to my surprise they didn’t support laws to raise the marriageable age to 18 & laws to stop people over 21yo marrying 18yo. So there’s another moral dilemma in supporting them.
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How is this a “moral dilemma”? Especially people over 21 marrying an 18 year old?
18 years old is legal adult in USA.
 
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If memory serves, the ACLU is a lot more aggressive in issues involving questions of Muslim concerns than of Christian or especially Catholic issues. I’m not even sure if they are as active fighting anti-Semitism as they once were. And certainly the ACLU is in the forefront of driving religion and religious expression from public life. Wouldn’t give them the time of day.
 
From what I understand, the ACLU takes the issue of trying to stand for the rights of all people in all things. Much of the time, they go against what the majority believe, but they are there to see that everyone gets a fair day in court.
I do not see being a member of the ACLU as being immoral, any more than not being a member of a political party or political action group that you did not agree with on all issues.
One of the thing that is great about America is that organizations like the ACLU believe that every person has rights. God bless America!
 
YourNameHere said:
I do not see being a member of the ACLU as being immoral, any more than not being a member of a political party or political action group that you did not agree with on all issues.
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I can’t bring myself to support monetarily an organization so fanatical that they find it acceptable to kill an infant . . . so long as you call it a “choice,” of course. HB16-1146: Born Alive Infant Protection Act | ACLU of Colorado

But if they’d like me to call my governor to veto legislation against, for example, free speech, I’ll help them out.
 
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The ACLU supports many, many issues.
I do not support the ACLU’s stand on this particular issue. But I do support there stand on many other issues.
 
ACLU’s opinion on the Little Sisters of the Poor case–
A federal court ruled today that nonprofit employees must be able to access contraceptive coverage despite their employer’s religious beliefs. The plaintiffs, including non-profit Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged , claimed they shouldn’t have to comply with the Affordable Care Act.

“The court’s opinion is a huge victory for women. The judges correctly held that the religious beliefs of an employer cannot not be used to prevent their employees from having health insurance coverage for contraception,” said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project. “Religious liberty is a fundamental value, and one that we fight for here at the ACLU. But religious freedom doesn’t give the plaintiffs in these cases the right to discriminate against their female employees.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit found that the religious accommodation in the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive rule imposed no substantial burden on the plaintiffs’ religious freedom. This accommodation allows nonprofits that refuse to follow the law requiring employee contraceptive coverage to notify their insurers or the government — which will in turn notify the insurer — of their objection. The insurer must then arrange and pay for the employee’s contraceptive coverage separately.
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I’d work with them on specific issues, if I had to, and if I agreed with them, but I wouldn’t just support them randomly. I’m sure they do good work, but the bad work they do is enough to taint them from my consideration.

I might look into the Becket Fund, though, if you want to support religious liberty. They seem to be more consistently aligned with our values.

Checking into Buck v. Gordon–
Thousands of foster children nationwide are waiting for their forever family, but there are not enough families willing to foster and adopt. In Michigan, no one addresses this crisis more effectively than faith-based adoption agencies like St. Vincent Catholic Charities. But in 2019, the Attorney General of Michigan signed an agreement with the ACLU attempting to shut down the state’s partnerships with faith-based foster and adoption agencies, putting at risk thousands of children who desperately need homes. In April 2019, Becket filed a lawsuit representing a former foster child, the parents of five adopted children with special needs, and St. Vincent Catholic Charities, asking the court to allow faith-based agencies to continue what they do best: uniting children with loving families.
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So, in this case, the ACLU is saying, “Because faith-based foster/adoption agencies don’t want to foster kids to EVERYONE—” (ie, same-sex couples, for example, because it’s contrary to their religious beliefs) “—they shouldn’t be allowed to foster to ANYONE.” And Becket is saying, “Um, no, faith-based agencies do good work, so they should be allowed to do their good; and if same-sex couples want to adopt, they can do it through other agencies.”
 
HomeschoolDad said:
Would it be permissible for a Catholic to join the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)?

It is true that they promote abortion rights, contraception, and LGBT rights (the latter including inoffensive things such as anti-discrimination in housing, jobs, and so on, which no one, including LGBT people, should suffer from).
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The ACLU is very selective about what supposed rights they advocate for. They don’t seem to recognize freedom of religion and certainly don’t believe in the second amendment. And they routinely set themselves up against the Church on many issues. For example, they try to force Catholic hospitals to provide abortions, claiming it is an infringements on a woman’s “right to choose.”

Don’t get me wrong, the ACLU does some good work, but they seem to only advocate for liberal social causes, often infringing on religious rights in the process. For this reason alone, I wouldn’t give the ACLU my money or support.
 
The ACLU is not out to be loved by everyone. They are certainly not perfect, but in today’s political age having a strong, independent, and nonpartisan group of lawyers willing to referee this mess is a blessing.

As far as abortion goes, I’m not sure I’d say they are decidedly pro-abortion, hear me out. There are underlying issues such as poverty, access to health care, and assistive aid that are major factors in abortion being chosen. They certainly fight against that.

I think many pro-life organizations simply look at bodies saved and basically the theory that if you outlaw it or make it very difficult to get, you’ll stop it. All you will do is force it underground, let it be done by poorly qualified people, not be able to regulate it (development stage, methods, reasons, etc.), happen in less than clinical conditions, etc. I know this doesn’t make good road signs, rallying points, political planks, or make for morally fulfilling accomplishments. However if you truly care about the babies, you’ll find ways to reduce their root causes. We are broken people, some babies will slip through no matter our best efforts, let’s at very least make their deaths as painlessly as possible through regulatory means.

I’m not saying Church teaching is invalid as the ideal, but we also have to fight through the mess that is real life in the most effective way. In someways the ACLU might be saving us from ourselves.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
Put another way: your civil or religious rights have been violated. As with Ghostbusters , “who you gonna call?”
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That’s why it’s a matter of conscience. But, again, personally speaking…I experienced blatant discrimination as a working mother in the past. I put my money where my mouth is and still didn’t call 'em. 😉 I think so long as there is a formed conscience and integrity, what you so with the political groups you follow is up to you. 🙂

I would suggest looking into other groups though. There are some out there that don’t support crimes against children and women. They need the chance to rise up and become to the new 800 pound gorilla in the room. 🙂
 
YourNameHere said:
The ACLU supports many, many issues.
I do not support the ACLU’s stand on this particular issue. But I do support there stand on many other issues
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They clearly don’t believe that every person has rights though.
PJH_74 said:
I think many pro-life organizations simply look at bodies saved and basically the theory that if you outlaw it or make it very difficult to get, you’ll stop it. All you will do is force it underground, let it be done by poorly qualified people, not be able to regulate it (development stage, methods, reasons, etc.), happen in less than clinical conditions, etc. I know this doesn’t make good road signs, rallying points, political planks, or make for morally fulfilling accomplishments. However if you truly care about the babies, you’ll find ways to reduce their root causes. We are broken people, some babies will slip through no matter our best efforts, let’s at very least make their deaths as painlessly as possible through regulatory means.
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Would you say the same about female circumcision where it is culturally acceptable?
 
The ACLU is very judicious in its selection of rights to support. The constitution which they frequently wave in public, they seek to shred in private if it is an issue they do not agree with.

There are far better, more consistent organizations to associate with. IMO, as a Catholic, here is but one of them: The Thomas More Law Center.
 
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