Remember when LGBTQ activists were complaining that conservative Christians didn’t care about children because of our opposition to allowing same-sex couples to adopt? Oh, how the “tolerance” tables have turned. Now, those same activists are demanding that needy children be kept away from loving, stable homes if the organization doesn’t bow to the gods of the sexual revolution. The latest victim in the growing push to shove Christianity out of our society is the Philadelphia-based Catholic Social Services. On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that the city of Philadelphia could legally discriminate against CSS because of the organization’s traditional Christian stance on sexuality and marriage.
The ruling, issued by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, explains how the events unfolded that led to the appeal:
A reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer informed the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services in March 2018 that two of its agencies would not work with same sex couples as foster parents. Human Services investigated this allegation, which it considered a violation of the City’s anti-discrimination laws. When the agencies confirmed that, because of their religious views on marriage, they would not work with gay couples, Human Services ceased referring foster children to them. One of those agencies, Catholic Social Services (sometimes abbreviated to “CSS”), brought this action claiming that the City has violated its rights under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise, Establishment, and Free Speech Clauses, as well as under Pennsylvania’s Religious Freedom Protection Act.
According to Jurist, a legal news and research website, “In a 3-0 decision, the Third Circuit said Philadelphia-based Catholic Social Services (CSS) failed to show the freeze on the agency amounted to any form of ‘religious persecution or bias,’ and therefore did not violate its First Amendment rights to free speech or religion.”
For their part, CSS:
…takes the position that it cannot certify a same-sex married couple as foster parents consistent with its religious views. As an affiliate of the Catholic Church, CSS adheres to the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. It is not unwilling to work with LGBTQ individuals as foster parents. However, state regulations require it to consider an applicant’s ‘existing family relationships’ as part of the certification process. In applying this criterion, CSS will only certify foster parents who are either married or single; it will not certify cohabitating unmarried couples, and it considers all same-sex couples to be unmarried. So far as the record reflects, no same-sex couples have approached CSS seeking to become foster parents.
Reading the ruling reveals that the Third Circuit insists that the city targeted CSS out of a “sincere opposition to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”
Utter nonsense!
Obvious to anyone who, unlike the Third Circuit, hasn’t swallowed the sexual revolution’s Kool-Aid of forced participation, the city of Philadelphia has most definitely violated Catholic Social Service’s First Amendment rights. There is no other way to explain this other than the government, via the federal courts, has codified into law a ruling that prohibits the free exercise of religion. For critics of CSS, there are dozens of foster care agencies in the Philadelphia area that will place children in the homes of same-sex couples. Allowing CSS to operate according to the dictates of the organization’s religious beliefs does not hinder a same-sex couple from becoming a foster parent.
It was just a few short years ago that LGBTQ advocates insisted that they simply wanted tolerance and that they didn’t intend to force Christians to act against our beliefs. In fact, I remember being scolded just a couple of years ago by progressive “Christian” friends for daring to raise the alarm that the sexual revolution’s endgame isn’t tolerance but affirmation and forced participation. I was called an alarmist and uncharitable, among other things. Turns out, I was correct, along with many others raising the alarm. However, following their 1984 playbook, leftists and progressive “Christians” frequently deny their previous claims were ever uttered.
The Third Circuit’s utter disregard for the First Amendment and the city of Philadelphia’s obvious disdain for traditional Christian values is quickly becoming the status quo for our nation. Unless God miraculously intervenes, it’s becoming evident that Christians will not be welcome to voice our beliefs nor live according to our beliefs in this country for much longer.
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