Using Conscience Boston Catholic Charities To Close Adoption Branch Of Office

[elts1956]

One thing that’s sadly being overlooked is that adoption services MUST be provided on a broad scale in order to discourage women from aborting their unborn children. Catholic agencies throughout our nation have been helping in this area for a long time. Both same-gender marriage and abortion are evils which devalue life – and Catholics cannot remain uninvolved.

I’m wondering if the Boston diocese ever asked the Thomas More Society Law Center for legal representation to defend its adoption policies.

Boston Catholic Charities decided to close its adoption office rather than being dragged through a long legal battle. This I truly think is the beginning of the repression of the Church in this country.

 

[manualman]

You have to understand the definition of sin. Too many people think sin is an arbitrary list of “Thou shalt nots.” In reality, sin is defined as an action that inherently damages a soul’s capacity to give or receive love.

Homosexual sex is sinful precisely because it is inherently self-destructive. Modern psychology refuses to accept this at this moment in time, but it is part of the Divine Revelation given to the Church.

The homosexual activist groups have made themselves and the general public believe that the enormous rates of depression, suicide, drug abuse, partner abuse, promiscuity and unfaithfulness in the homosexual community are a result of the oppression and hatefulness traditionally displayed by the hetero community (especially the religious types). They have a point that christians have not lived up to our principle of loving sinner, but hating sin. But they don’t seem to notice that these rates of problems aren’t going down as general cultural acceptance goes up…

The Church on the other hand sees these problems as the inevitable outcome of sin and thus seeks to protect innocent children from such effects.

 

[neat62]

Forgive me if this sounds like an ignorant question, I am aware of the Church’s teaching about homosexuality, but would it not be better for a child to be placed in a loving home regardless of the sex of the parents than to be left in an orphanage?

Just curious, do you support gay marriage?

 

[CMCGeneva]

I’ve never thought much about it, but I don’t think the Catholic Church should do marriages for Homosexuals. I have been trying to educate myself on this matter from the Church’s view. I am praying for wisdom so that I can understand. To summarize there are many things about the Church that I never bothered to look into but now that I am, I am amazed and in awe. So please understand my questions are not meant to ridicule or poke holes, I honestly want to learn.

 

[CMCGeneva]

You have to understand the definition of sin. Too many people think sin is an arbitrary list of “Thou shalt nots.” In reality, sin is defined as an action that inherently damages a soul’s capacity to give or receive love.

Homosexual sex is sinful precisely because it is inherently self-destructive. Modern psychology refuses to accept this at this moment in time, but it is part of the Divine Revelation given to the Church.

The homosexual activist groups have made themselves and the general public believe that the enormous rates of depression, suicide, drug abuse, partner abuse, promiscuity and unfaithfulness in the homosexual community are a result of the oppression and hatefulness traditionally displayed by the hetero community (especially the religious types). They have a point that christians have not lived up to our principle of loving sinner, but hating sin. But they don’t seem to notice that these rates of problems aren’t going down as general cultural acceptance goes up…

The Church on the other hand sees these problems as the inevitable outcome of sin and thus seeks to protect innocent children from such effects.

Thank you. This is what I needed to have explained to me. I guess I just didn’t know how to ask it.

 

[neat62]

I’ve never thought much about it, but I don’t think the Catholic Church should do marriages for Homosexuals. I have been trying to educate myself on this matter from the Church’s view. I am praying for wisdom so that I can understand. To summarize there are many things about the Church that I never bothered to look into but now that I am, I am amazed and in awe. So please understand my questions are not meant to ridicule or poke holes, I honestly want to learn.

Ok. But let’s leave the Church out of this for a moment. Are you generally in favor or not in favor of gay marriage?

I try to debate in a secular sense because when we debate our adversaries, they tend to be secularists.

 

[CMCGeneva]

Ok. But let’s leave the Church out of this for a moment. Are you generally in favor or not in favor of gay marriage?

I try to debate in a secular sense because when we debate our adversaries, they tend to be secularists.

I would say the same argument would apply to Homosexual marriage that I was using for adoption of children - two loving people should be allowed if not encouraged to be in a monogomous relationship.

 

[elts1956]

Ok. But let’s leave the Church out of this for a moment. Are you generally in favor or not in favor of gay marriage?

I try to debate in a secular sense because when we debate our adversaries, they tend to be secularists.

I am against Gay Marriage, period. Debating against an INTRINSIC moral issue with secularists is a lost cause. Did you not see what just happened with the abortion issue only two days ago?

 

[Neil_Anthony]

Ok. But let’s leave the Church out of this for a moment. Are you generally in favor or not in favor of gay marriage?

I try to debate in a secular sense because when we debate our adversaries, they tend to be secularists.

The secular argument you can use is that the family is a building block of society, and that it is important to society as a whole to strengthen families.

Also, the traditional reasons for the state to intervene in marriage were:

1. Provide security (financial and emotional) to the mother by forcing the man to support her and the kids and not be able to abandon her when she’s pregnant and raising kids. - does not apply to gay marriages
2. Something similar to ‘ownership’ rights of the spouse to give people a sense of security about keeping their partners - this is not an important argument to secularists since they find this notion offensive and old-fashioned, so its not a reason to give marriage to gays
3. Provide financial benefits to help families raise children. - gays don’t have kids

So there are secular arguments as well. I agree it doesn’t make any sense to use religious arguments when talking to someone who isn’t religious.

 

[LouiseL_SFO]

1. Provide financial benefits to help families raise children. - gays don’t have kids

Neil first I’ll say that I believe that homosexuals are incapable of entering into a marriage as defined by the Catholic Church. I’ve found this article to be very helpful in defining my position to online acquaintances who ask me to clarify my beliefs: Misconceptions About Sex, Procreation, and Marriage by Patrick Lee.

However, you don’t do our position any favors by making flat out false statements like the one I’ve quoted. Gays have adopted and those children are being denied rights including health care, inheritance, and military dependent’s benefits because of the unmarried status of their adoptive parent. So to make a statement like that just makes us look bad and confuses those people who are inquirers or new members to our church. We need to be able to discuss these issues and clearly come to a position that we can articulate that will offer some solution for them not deny they exist.

That being said my reason for coming to this thread was I wondered if there were any statistics available yet on the affect of CCoB leaving the field. Have the number of adoptions dropped significantly? More importantly have heterosexual married couples of religious bodies that hold this view of marriage stepped up to fill the gap? It may be too early yet for this information to be available but I’d certainly like to find out those statistics.