Bishops: Practicing Religion in Public is not Discrimination

Catholic News Agency ^ | 7/19/14

[marshmallow]

Washington D.C., Jul 19, 2014 / 06:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Americans must be free to practice their faith in the public square – including business decisions – without being viewed as discriminatory, urged four U.S. bishops.

“Churches, businesses, and individuals should not be punished in any way for living by their religious and moral convictions concerning sexual activity,” the bishops wrote in a July 17 blog post for the U.S. bishops’ conference.

“Eliminating truly unjust discrimination – based on personal characteristics, not sexual behavior – and protecting religious freedom are goals that we all should share,” the bishops emphasized. “The current political climate makes it very difficult to maintain a reasonable dialogue on these contentious issues, but we must keep trying.”

The blog post was authored by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who chairs the bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage; Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, who heads the bishops’ religious liberty committee; Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Bishop Richard Malone, head of the marriage and family life committee.

The bishops responded to claims in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling that religious employers are now free to “discriminate” against LGBT employees.

The criticisms are misguided, the bishops wrote, because the attempt to banish workplace discrimination ends up discriminating against the religious beliefs of some employers, forcing them to condone behavior they believe to be immoral.

“They argue that religious people cannot ‘impose’ their morality on others. This ignores the fact that these advocates themselves seek to impose their morality on religious people and runs directly counter to the religious diversity that modern societies aspire to,” they said.

At the heart of the debate is the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act, designed to........

[SunkenCiv]

/bingo

[tomsbartoo]

I don’t understand. What is this “sexual behavior” that the Catholic Church finds to be so “immoral” that is being referenced? I’ve never heard any priest or bishop say even so much as a word about avoiding any particular sexual behavior because it is immoral. What am I missing?

Oh yes, I should mention for the benefit of those deeply committed to the teachings and views of the modernist popes, bishops and priests spawned out of the Conciliar Church, this is sarcasm.