Catholic League President Bill Donohue did not hold back in responding to the American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit against the Michigan government.
Michigan is facing litigation over its decision to allow faith-based adoption agencies to follow their spiritual conscious when it comes to allowing what sort of parents can participate in their programs. As a result, Christian organizations have been free to turn away homosexual couples, which earned the ire of the ACLU.
Catholic doctrine maintains the traditional Christian view of marriage and parenting. Of course, the Bible also teaches that all followers “live and let live.” Because of this, Catholic adoption agencies encourage homosexual couples to simply visit secular adoption agencies.
Donohue reflected this sentiment in his hard-hitting response to the ACLU last week.
“Of course, there are other child placement agencies in the state that the couple could have gone to. But that is not the point for the ACLU,” Donohue said. “As with its long war against Catholic hospitals, the goal of the ACLU is to either force faith-based institutions to violate their religious teachings or to drive them out of human services altogether.”
The Catholic League President went on to question the ACLU’s core values as a civil liberties advocacy group, which in theory should include religious freedom.
“[This lawsuit] would be to the detriment of all those people—in this case children — who are served by faith-based charitable agencies, is of little concern to the ACLU,” he continued. “Its agenda is driven not by concern for people in need, but by a determination to advance its pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage ideology at all costs.”
The ACLU announced plans to sue the state of Michigan over the adoption issue earlier in September in response to a law signed by Governor Rick Snyder in 2015. The law stated that child-placement agencies would no longer be required to provide services that conflict with their own closely-held religious beliefs.
In addition to the ACLU, the law has been a target for pro-LGBT groups.
“The fact that I’m being asked to fund, through my own tax dollars, my own discrimination is outrageous,” Equality Michigan director Stephanie White told NBC News.
By all account’s Michigan’s law makes perfect sense, and hardly places any burden upon children or homosexual couples. The statute simply reaffirms the idea that all Americans are free to practice their religion as they see fit.
If the courts ultimately side with the ACLU, however, it could set a bad precedent and make it harder for religious organizations to operate in the future. Perhaps that is their intent to begin with.
~ 1776 Christian
