Bill would give voters voice on church closings (Gov't interference alert!)

Boston Herald ^ | July 13, 2005 | Kevin Rothstein

[NYer]

Hub voters would be asked if the Archdiocese of Boston ``has failed'' in its handling of church closings in neighborhoods under a nonbinding ballot question to be proposed by a trio of city councilors today.

     ``In the past we've had nothing but failure and breakdown in communication and in the future we need to have better communication,'' said Brighton City Councilor Jerry P. McDermott, the lead sponsor.
     The measure, which will be introduced at today's City Council meeting, will be on the Nov. 8 ballot if it passes. Also sponsoring it are South Boston City Councilor James M. Kelly and North End Councilor Paul J. Scapicchio.
     Councilors said the archdiocese has gone ahead with closings without thought for the city's most vulnerable citizens, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, who use church-based food pantries and 12-step programs.
     An Archdiocese spokesman could not be reached for comment yesterday.

[Red Badger]

Isn't this slightly Un-consti-freakin-tutional?........

[Dominick]

Feh, now WE can scream separation of Church and State!

[KarlInOhio]

Please say that this is really from Scrappleface. Please?

I can barely believe that even Bostonians would be this stupid.

[kjam22]

I'm certain the archdiocese has "had a thought" or concern regarding those that will be hurt by the closings. Maybe the city could pony up some money to the church to help feed these poor that they are so worried about?

[NYer]

Councilors said the archdiocese has gone ahead with closings without thought for the city's most vulnerable citizens, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, who use church-based food pantries and 12-step programs.

Would this not be a violation of Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[Sam Cree]

"Isn't this slightly Un-consti-freakin-tutional?........"

It's about as clear an example of it as anything I've ever heard of...'course that's no big deal these days.

[gridlock]

They should just condemn the churches under eminent domain, and then they can run the soup kitchens and the AA meetings themselves. Or they could hand the land over to a private developer and get all that sweet, sweet tax revenue.

Of course, the same could be said of your church...

[joebuck]

Whaddaya know, this is an instance where when you say "seperation of church and state" there is really a church involved. Most of the time when libs say "seperation of church and state" they really mean "seperation of faith and state"; two totally different things.

[OpusatFR]

Where's the ACLU? This is a blatant interference by the government into a religion's affair.


~croak......ribbit, croak.....silence....

[Red Badger]

The sounds of silence is deafening...........BTW I have tinnitus........

[joebuck]

Whaddaya know, this is an instance where when you say "seperation of church and state" there is really a church involved. Most of the time when libs say "seperation of church and state" they really mean "seperation of faith and state"; two totally different things.

[Old Professer]

So?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Making political hay over something they can't do diddlesquat about, I see....

[Red Badger]

Yeah, like when did that ever make a difference? Maybe this is a case of separating "state from church"......

[daybreakcoming]

Brighton City Councilor Jerry P. McDermott, the lead sponsor

hmmmmm....let's see. Jerry has been a member of Ward 2 Democrat Committee and a legislative aide to Joseph P Kennedy II. But he's also a Catholic. Must be a John Kerry kind of Catholic. And his wife's name is Aoibheann(???) according to his bio.

[freepatriot32]

Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here

[highlander_UW]

The anti-religion forces seem to be lining up an arsenal of weapons to use against churches. The Kelo ruling will also allow them to take away church properties on the grounds that a Safeway or some other taxpaying business would provide a greater tax income compared to a tax-exempt church. This is just one piece of the arsenal being arrayed.

[Romish_Papist]

This is... just... wow...