But since the USCCB and so many of the dioceses are officially on the federal dole for so much of their budgets (e.g., those huge grants to facilitate the Central American child-trafficking scheme), they are in a panic now that it appears that their gravy trains may be pulling into the station.
John Zmirak posted quite a cogent piece on Aleteia, to which I now link. I'll post one key paragraph below. I'll elaborate on emboldened phrases below.
The short term impact of this on faithful Christians will certainly be unpleasant. Let’s assume that the leaders of the major Christian communions (Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical) stand on principle. Churches and charities that won’t collaborate will lose billions of dollars in federal funds that they had previously dispensed, channeling taxpayer money to serve the poor, recent immigrants, and others eligible for federal poverty aid. Groups such as Catholic Charities, some bishops’ migration offices, and others will see their budgets slashed. They will have to scale back their services, as the needy whom they had served get their needs met somewhere else -- by church groups which decide to play Judas, or outright secular agencies. The Christian groups that had relied on federal money to carry out their missions will have to look to their own church members for more donations, or their impact and clout will diminish.
- "Channeling taxpayer money". This means, ladies and gentlemen, that through these "federal contracts" or "grants" or whatever you want to call them, the Church had been joining the state in dipping their grubby mits into the wallets of each and every one of us. That is not charity; that is theft. There is concern that the Church may be denied this "opportunity for money"; in reality, they will have removed from them an occasion of sin against the Seventh Commandment.
- "Catholic Charities..will see their budgets slashed." I guess that means no more "needle exchange programs" as offered by Albany Catholic Charities or "Centennial Awards" being bestowed on the likes of Sister Carol Keehan or Fr. Theodore Hesburgh. Read this link for more reasons why we should rejoice that Catholic Charities' budget might be slashed.
- "Christian groups..will have to look to their own church members for more donations." Imagine that! Christians being challenged to dig into their own pockets and fulfill their own Christian responsibilities. In short, they'd be abiding (finally!) by the principle of subsidiarity. That's how it should be done - not by clamoring for tax increases for everyone else.
