Is the Roman Catholic Church Persecuting a Child?

[Sunstone]

Is the Roman Catholic Church right to exclude the child of a lesbian couple from its school? Why or why not? Is the Church's action persecution? Why or why not?

Groups protest decision not to re-enroll child of lesbians - CNN.com

 

[sandandfoam]

Lucky kid. That was a close call.
Think it'd work in Ireland?
I'd happily become a lesbian if I thought the church would refuse to educate my kids and the state was forced to provide me with some secular education.

 

[justbehappy]

It is not right at all. Even if they want to say that homosexuality is a sin (which obviously they are), why should the child be responsible for the parent's actions? That's like someone going to jail because their great aunt's cousin's sister's nephew's son was a prostitute. It's the same exact thing - someone being held repsonsbile for another person's actions. Completely wrong.

 

[MSizer]

I think it's a glaring example of how the catholic church is still in the stone ages with respect to morality. If they had a modern understanding of morality, they'd realize that because they're mostly made up of socially conservative people, they have natural tendencies to consider personal purity a moral domain. They'd then challenge themselves to think critically about thier moral sense and come to realize that there is no logical justification to support the inherent disgust they harbor for personal impurity, which comes to them by way of natural selection. The pope and his gang need some education of the non-catholic flavour.

 

[alyxandres]

As long as the church is not accepting any gov't assistance or funding there is nothing wrong with it. Beggars can't be choosers, freedom also means you can exclude if you want to. Its sad, but I will still fight for the right. Can always try a public school.

 

[TheKnight]

Is the Roman Catholic Church right to exclude the child of a lesbian couple from its school? Why or why not? Is the Church's action persecution? Why or why not?

Groups protest decision not to re-enroll child of lesbians - CNN.com

While I don't agree with their reasoning, I do believe that the Catholic Church has a right to exclude whoever it wants to from it's schools. It's not the State's business to determine how religion operates itself.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

As long as the church is not accepting any gov't assistance or funding there is nothing wrong with it.

There's nothing wrong with it that wasn't wrong with Denny's restaurants refusing to serve black people.

Beggars can't be choosers, freedom also means you can exclude if you want to.

"The customer is always right" is a common expression as well.

Its sad, but I will still fight for the right. Can always try a public school.

I think it was wrong for them to reject the child from their daycare program. I'm not sure why the parents would've wanted to put her in a Catholic daycare in the first place, but the daycare was offering a service to the public and the couple had a right not to be discriminated against.

However, I'm not sure it's worth it for them to fight this battle with the Catholic Church. By the time it works its way through the legal system, the parents will probably be more worried about where their daughter should go to college than they would be about her nursery school.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

While I don't agree with their reasoning, I do believe that the Catholic Church has a right to exclude whoever it wants to from it's schools. It's not the State's business to determine how religion operates itself.

It's not a religion, it's a daycare. A business doesn't stop being a business just because it's owned by a church.

 

[RomCat]

The decision is the correct one.
Read the reply from the archdiocese
on CNN.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The decision is the correct one.
Read the reply from the archdiocese
on CNN.

It may be in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church, but that doesn't make the decision correct.

Or moral.

 

[Mister Emu]

On one hand, I don't like it... I don't think the child should be removed from friends and acquaintances because of the parents' actions.

On the other, and I can't remember if the schools have catechism classes or not, what happens if the child finds out that the Church teaches the parents are living in sin. Could there be emotional confusion/damage there?

edit: It looks like the archdiocese brought up the same issue in their response...

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

On one hand, I don't like it... I don't think the child should be removed from friends and acquaintances because of the parents' actions.

On the other, and I can't remember if the schools have catechism classes or not, what happens if the child finds out that the Church teaches the parents are living in sin. Could there be emotional confusion/damage there?

The article didn't give the child's specific age, but mentioned that she's a "pre-schooler". Even though the organization was a Catholic school, I assume that this was some sort of daycare program. Would catechism classes even be given to preschoolers? At that age, wouldn't any religion instruction be at the basic "God loves you" level? I can't see them bringing up the Church's position on homosexuality to that sort of audience.

However, the archdiocese's response puzzled me a bit: basically, they recognize that hearing opposing viewpoints on this matter might confuse the child. However, the Church believes that it's right and that the parents are wrong. And they decide that their best option is to leave the child to a life of being certain, but (in their view) certainly incorrect? This makes no sense.

I think this action only makes sense if it's based on one of two motives:

- the people making the decision don't really feel that the Church hold any special claim on truth, so they think it actually is better for her to hold views with certainty that go against Church teaching.
- it really is about using the child as a way to express their displeasure over the actions of her parents.

 

[Storm]

I think "persecution" is too strong a word. Discrimination, sure, but not persecution.

 

[ChristineES]

I think they should let the child attend the school. It is discrimination, as Storm said, if they won't.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I think they should let the child attend the school. It is discrimination, as Storm said, if they won't.

It's clearly discrimination. I think the archdiocese is trying to argue that it's justified discrimination.

 

[gnomon]

I think the state should investigate as to whether or not other children in the pre-school have parents who have not lived up to the catechism. If that is the case, which statistically speaking would pretty much be the case, than the state should demand that those children be removed as well or else yank their business license. Fair business practices after all.

After all, we wouldn't want people to get the impression that Catholic leaders are hypocrites. If this is what is important after all. How many of the parents have been divorced? Are currently divorced? Have criminal records? Etcetera, etcetera. Or do those not come to the same level as being lesbians?

Parents living in open discord with Catholic teaching in areas of faith and morals unfortunately choose by their actions to disqualify their children from enrollment

He didn't single out homosexuality. So discordant actions are the other parents engaging in that would disqualify their children.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I think the state should investigate as to whether or not other children in the pre-school have parents who have not lived up to the catechism. If that is the case, which statistically speaking would pretty much be the case, than the state should demand that those children be removed as well or else yank their business license. Fair business practices after all.

After all, we wouldn't want people to get the impression that Catholic leaders are hypocrites. If this is what is important after all. How many of the parents have been divorced? Are currently divorced? Have criminal records? Etcetera, etcetera. Or do those not come to the same level as being lesbians?

Indeed. For instance, missing Sunday mass is a mortal sin; there are many so-called Catholics who say that it's perfectly acceptable to skip mass once in a while. The Church can't endorse these views by educating these people's children, can it? :sarcastic

 

[Father Heathen]

Why would lesbians want their child to be educated in a conservative and religious setting? Also, wouldn't the church want the the child to attend so they could "save" (indoctrinate) the child from their parent's sinful influence?

 

[footprints]

Is the Roman Catholic Church right to exclude the child of a lesbian couple from its school? Why or why not? Is the Church's action persecution? Why or why not?

Groups protest decision not to re-enroll child of lesbians - CNN.com

This a double edged sword.

Simply put, the welfare of the child must be placed above all others. The child in this instance is clearly being abused by both the Church and the Gay Movement. Neither group appears to have the childs best interest at heart.

Deny the child a right to a school, the child will suffer. Give the child a place in the school and the child will suffer. Make the child the centre piece in a ridiculous adult conflict as is happening in this scenario, and both groups are already guilty of planting the seed to future psychological problems.

 

[TheKnight]

It's not a religion, it's a daycare. A business doesn't stop being a business just because it's owned by a church.

1. Since when is a school a daycare?
2. They are not obligated to provide daycare services to any child that desires it.