Comments on Advance Indiana™: Catholic Church Lobbying Succeeds In Defeating South Bend Gay Rights Ordinance

Sometimes I'm ashamed to be from Indiana - my dad ...

2006-07-12T01:13:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I'm ashamed to be from Indiana - my dad was a director of the Center for Social Concerns at Notre Dame for about ten years, and they dealt with international issues and peace and justice and scrupulously avoided gay rights. Why? Because they feared for the funding of the department if they annoyed....must have been Hessburg, at that time, who was President.
As for "why are you Catholic?," it's not just a religion, it's a culture. You're born into it, you learn about it, you're enmeshed in it, your family is involved in it, and then you're told "ooops, too bad, because of something you have no control over, you don't get to belong."
More and more people are pushing for the Catholic Church in the US to change some doctrines, and the doctrine against homosexuality is one of them. We know the church can change - look at Vatican II. Unfortunately, most liberal Catholic thinkers see a split with Rome and the possible establishment of an American Catholic church before the current Pope would even entertain the notion that gay people can be Catholic too.
I'm the child of a former Catholic priest and nun and went to Catholic school for 19 years. My husband and I were married in the church, and belong to a parish - but we're still pushing, as best we can, for the Church to adopt more tolerant, sane, and sensible views over things like this. In a time when the Church's public image is crumbling and their financial situation is in dire straits, it seems ridiculous that the instition is trying to push people who want to belong out of the Church - while at the same time bemoaning the fact that cultural Catholics (like my husband and I) are joining other denominations or simply refusing to contribute financially.
If they really wanted to make the communities "safer," maybe they could stop moving the pedophiles around from parish to parish to hide them, rather than lobbying to prevent gay South Bend residents (who may not even BE Catholic) from full protection under the law.

Church lobbying on ISSUES ONLY is OK if the money ...

2006-07-11T13:01:00.000-05:00

Church lobbying on ISSUES ONLY is OK if the money spent represents less than 5% or 3% (forget details) of income. ANY church lobbying on PARTIES or CANDIDATES is incompatible with tax-exempt 503c status.

Anon at 7:31, why not consider the Episcopal Church? Sacramentally oriented, Communion weekly (True Presence and all that), and 104 of 111 dioceses are at least somewhat gay-friendly, and a good many have openly gay priests. Or if ecumenically minded, MCC or UCC.

NancyP

Church lobbying is a tax NO NO!Educational outreac...

2006-07-11T08:56:00.000-05:00

Church lobbying is a tax NO NO!

Educational outreach is OK under the 501(c)3 part of the tax code.

Advocacy is prohibited!

The church could and should lose its tax free status...it should be reported to the IRS.

Great Recap Gary! Thanks for the thorough review....

2006-07-11T08:03:00.000-05:00

Great Recap Gary! Thanks for the thorough review. I too am saddened by the loss, but not surprised. It feels like Indianapolis this time last year when the Council dealt the LGBT community its initial defeat by a democratically led council. The answer is to organize, organize, organize! South Bend will rise again!

anonymous 7:31 -- I think it's difficult to unders...

2006-07-11T08:01:00.000-05:00

anonymous 7:31 -- I think it's difficult to understand how you've attended a church your whole life and yet are just now realizing that your church believes homosexuality is a sin. Why are you Catholic if you don't agree with some of its most basic principles?

I feel really bad for Mayor Luecke. He really is t...

2006-07-11T07:34:00.000-05:00

I feel really bad for Mayor Luecke. He really is trying to improve South Bend's image, but the council keeps getting in his way. This is what happens when you put a holier-than-thou minister in charge of your city council.

As a Catholic and a gay person, I am really depres...

2006-07-11T07:31:00.000-05:00

As a Catholic and a gay person, I am really depressed about this turn of events in South Bend. It is difficult to understand how the church I've attended my whole life is working to make my life more difficult.