Silly kids of lesbians!

Ah yes, religious tolerance, love and compassion has taken another smack in the 'nads, and as usual it is the religious establishment that has delivered the blow. A preschooler in the archdiocese of Denver (in Colorado) (in the USA) will not be allowed back to the Catholic school the child had been attending as the child is being raised by two lesbians. Silly old lesbians, thinking that the catholic community cares about them or their child. Why, that's just... silly.

So, what does the archdiocese have to say for itself? Well: "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. To allow children in these circumstances to continue in our school would be a cause of confusion for the student in that what they are being taught in school conflicts with what they experience in the home." Well gosh, that certainly helps clear things up for me! So children who have parents who use birth-control are not allowed to enroll either, right? Nor will those bratty little snots who have a dad who has had a vasectomy. And how about those brats who have parents who are not married? Out with them! And the children of divorced parents, or of parents who have had their marriage annulled? On the streets with them! It seems obvious, given what the archdiocese has said, that none of these terrible children would be allowed anywhere within twenty feet of a catholic school in the archdiocese of Denver. Not unless the leaders there are hypocrites, that is.

Father Bill Breslin, who is the pastor of the Catholic school in question and who maintains a blog at http://www.fatherbillsblog.com/ (ah, don't get excited, every goober out there has a blog, um..), stepped in to clear things up in a post on his blog called What wisdom is at work in not having the children of a gay marriage in a Catholic school. "If a child of gay parents comes to our school, and we teach that gay marriage is against the will of God, then the child will think that we are saying their parents are bad. We don't want to put any child in that tough position - nor do we want to put the parents, or the teachers, at odds with the teachings of the Catholic church. Why would good parents want their children to learn something they don't believe in? It doesn't make sense." He goes on to say, "There are many schools in Boulder that see the meaning of sexuality in an entirely different way than the Catholic church does. Why not sent their children there?" Ah Father B, we in the business of opening a can of worms call that "opening a can of worms". Now granted, in some quarters the old "our way or the hi-way" way of reasoning is still considered valid (many neo-cons in the US seem to think this way) but for the sake of argument let's just say that it is actually kind of a dumb way to think. Now if I am reading your post right you are saying that these two lesbians are not good parents, and that they do not have the right to be Catholic or to bring their child up within the Catholic faith. How inclusive. But I was thinking of that bit where you talk about schools that see sexuality in a different way that the Catholic church does and how these lesbians should send their kid to one of them. I'm pretty sure that I'm right in thinking that the Catholic church believes that it is the only true faith, and only good catholics get to go to heaven. Everybody else heads south to burn in everlasting torment. So since you have suggested that this child should be sent to another school, does that mean that you want her to burn in hell, presumably like her parents will be? Is this new version of God's love? No, I guess not.

I don't know, me and superstition don't really see eye to eye anyway and I have to wonder why any gay person would want to be a member of any organization that believes that the gay person will burn in hell forever after they die. I also don't understand why religion is given a free ride on being intolerant and hateful, and that tax-exempt-status thing kind of gets me too.

Anyway... Humouroceros