San Francisco Challenged on ‘Catholic Bashing’
A decision concerning a lawsuit filed against San Francisco for bashing Catholics will be reached within the next few months.
The case challenges a resolution given by the Board of Supervisors of the city and county which essentially condemns the Catholic Church for its moral beliefs, especially those in relation to homosexuality and adoption of children by homosexuals.
Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center argued the case on the basis of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which forbids Congress from establishing a state religion and prevents hostility toward religion.
“The argument is that the Establishment Clause requires the government to be neutral towards religion,” Muise explains. The resolution, however, was hardly neutral, as the attorney argues, “It attacked the Catholic Church. It attacked Catholic leadership. It called on local Catholics to defy the church leadership with regard to a moral issue of the church,” he contests. “This is quintessential government meddling and interfering with church affairs.”
The argued resolution described the church’s beliefs as “insulting” to all San Franciscans, “hateful,” “callous,” “defamatory,” “absolutely unacceptable,” “insensitive and ignorant,” and refers to the Vatican as a “foreign country.” The decision even made reference to the Inquisition, and urged the San Francisco archbishop and Catholic charities to defy church directives.
(Source: OneNewsNow.com)
