In what could be the most politically tone deaf proposal to ever come to the state capital Rep. Micheal Lawlor (D) and Sen. Andrew McDonald (D) proposed a bill that would allow the state to regulate how the Catholic Church conducts its business. What stands out in all this is how it all came about. According to Senator McDonald one day out of the blue a guy from Greenwich comes up to him and says that as a laity member of his church he ought to have a greater say on how it conducts its business. From then on, with no further information, no UConn "studies" or polls or reference articles Mr McDonald went to work, found Micheal Lawlor and proposed a bill that tells the Catholic church it must have a lay council of 7 to 13 members with priests and bishops relegated to advisory roles. We're to believe all this came about from one person complaining about being left out. After decades upon centuries of Catholic parishes, one person felt excluded and so hereth set fortheth he shall be included to keepth the ledger..ith.
Here are the obvious wrongs:
1. Oh, you guys are doing such a fine job in Hartford when it comes to the books. If only you can tell the Catholics how to run theirs. Priests and bishops are out of the process. Nice touch. How about if the people run the books of the state, Senators and Representatives out, huh?
2. Just the Catholic's? Why not Jewish temple's, now that would've been fun. Could you just imagine the justifiable uproar? But why not other faiths? What are we suppose to think that the McLawlor's seem to think we think? The Greenwich guy (okay his name is Tom Gallagher) said he was of course of course motivated by the love of his church but also by priest sexual-abuse scandals. Ohhhh, now we know where this is going. See if it weren't for church bookkeeping by priests there would be no sex scandals.
3. There is the obvious church and state issue. The ACLU said today...nothing at all.
4. If this were to pass it would be the first time any organization, religious or otherwise, were told who looks over financials, who can't, how many people involved, what position they held. Guess there's a first for everything. What better place to start.
So in short two lawmakers who have mismanaged the state budget think they know how other people could better manage theirs, singled out the Catholic church and although they believe in the oft-mentioned "separation of church and state" and 'happy holiday" us all over the place in December, think that it's okay and everyone else will think the same.
This is liberal left-wing stuff in overdrive and it's high time we identify these proposals from the ideology from which it came. The latest article in the Hartford Courant on the issue doesn't even mention the party of McDonald and Lawlor. Democrat. Don't forget it.
Comments
Cheers! This article is exactly on point. Thank you for shining a spotlight on this injustice!
Beautiful! No one has addressed this better than Mr. Talleos
Is not part of the problem the fact that the church has been playing fast and loose with the books in order to cheat the victims of the pedophiles within the clergy?
If the church is attempting to cheat the numerous survivors of sexual assault perpetrated by the clergy by cooking the books they most definitely need oversight.
The church must be compelled to make reparations to its victims. For too long the church betrayed the victims and protected the pedophiles. The shame of the church is great. It does not surprise me at all that they would need financial oversight. The church has proven to be deceitful and not worthy of the public trust.
"Is not part of the problem the fact that the church has been playing fast and loose with the books in order to cheat the victims of the pedophiles within the clergy?'
I don't know that they are nor do I know that they are cheating the victims of pedophiles. However if they are then laws in existence cover things like that. How about if we just make a law that says its against the law to break the law and leave the first amendment alone.
"If the church is attempting to cheat the numerous survivors of sexual assault perpetrated by the clergy by cooking the books they most definitely need oversight."
Okay lets back up here. First of all this has noting to do with oversight because it is a law that tells a private operation how it should be organized. The state doesn't have that kind of jurisdiction, not in a free society it doesn't. Second this has NOTHING to do with victims of pedophiles as much as you just love throwing that around.
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