So you think telling White firefighters that they can't get promoted because, well, they're White is a little over the top? How about telling Catholics that they can't practice their religion because, well, they're . . . Catholic.Separation of Church and State? Not if Connecticut can help it.
In March, in a stealth attack, the Connecticut legislature targeted the Catholic Church with proposed legislation that would require the Church to reorganize its parishes along lines mandated by the State. This reorganization would strip priests and the bishop of any authority in their own parishes.
For the moment, other religious denominations have escaped the legislature's terrifying defiance of the First Amendment, for strategic reasons no doubt. It's probably better not to take on every Christian in Connecticut at the same time. Bill 1098 singled out only Catholic parishes for the radical reorganization of their legal, financial, and administrative structures, in direct violation of Church law and that pesky First Amendment, which states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . . ." With only a few days to respond, the Diocesan Web site exclaimed:
This bill . . . is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the Catholic Church on the important issues of the day, such as same-sex marriage.
Not surprisingly, Connecticut Catholics regarded the bill as a direct attack on their Faith. As Bishop William E. Lori explained:
[O]ur Diocese responded in the most natural, spontaneous, and frankly, American, of ways: we alerted our membership – in person and through our website; we encouraged them to exercise their free speech by contacting their elected representatives; and, we organized a rally at the State Capitol.After 4000 Catholics dropped everything else to attend the rally, Bill 1098 headed for the recycle bin, temporarily preserving freedom of religion in Connecticut.
But the State fought back. If you're going to harass people for their religious beliefs, better give them a really hard time. A few weeks after the rally, the Office of State Ethics informed Bishop Lori that, by opposing the bill, the Church had violated state lobbying laws. Enter possible civil penalties, criminal prosecution, and the not-to-be-neglected usual (or perhaps unusual) administrative burdens and intrusive State oversight.
The State's complaints: Catholics had rallied at the State Capitol without having their Church register as a lobbyist. Moreover, Catholics had used their Web site to urge other Catholics to contact their elected representatives. Not only had Catholics opposed the forced parish reorganization bill, they had opposed a same-sex marriage bill.
Seems like the Catholic organization was a bit too well organized for the State's liking.
This past Friday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport sought a court order to stop Connecticut from this unconstitutional application of state lobbying laws. In a blog titled, "This is the Constitution State?," Bishop Lori wrote:
“Lobbying”? Exhortations from the pulpit, information posted to the world wide web, a rally in the middle of the day on the State’s most public piece of property? This cannot possibly be what our Legislature had in mind when it enacted lobbying laws to bring more transparency and oversight to a legislative process that has been corrupted by special interests and backroom deals.
That's putting it mildly. Bishop Lori concluded:[snip]
Unfortunately, this new action cannot be seen as anything other than an attempt to muzzle the Church and subject our right of free speech to government review and regulation. This government action tramples on the First Amendment freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion, and should shock the conscience of all citizens of the Constitution State.
As a Bishop, I will take every measure possible to defend our faith and our Church from attempts to silence us – and our individual parishes could be targeted next.Whatever they're putting in Connecticut's water, I hope Judge Sonia Sotomayor isn't drinking too much of it.
And I hope they don't bottle it and ship it over state lines.
h/t: The 9-12 Project
This is horrible and the FIRST that I've read about it (although I have been on kind of an island recently). Thanks for informing us about Conn.'s garbage.
ReplyDeleteYukio: This story has just been a blip on the radar, as far as I've seen.
ReplyDeleteThis harrassment is one of the most personally frightening government activities I've read about in this terrible time of devolution.
As a precedent, Connecticut's actions amount to a blatent, shameless, and lawless practice attack on any organized religion whose ancient precepts counter popular current PC doctrine, as well as a direct attack on the rights of public assembly and freedom of speech.
I'm no lawyer, but folded into the mix, it seems to me, is an additional attack on bloggers. The State particularly noted that the Church became an unregistered lobbyist when the Diocese used their Web site to ask concerned Catholics to contact their representatives. Does this mean that, by definition, bloggers or online publishers are assumed by Connecticut to be "lobbyists" who must register and have their words be reviewed by the state?
Of course, we know such an assumption would apply only those whose opinions are not aligned with those of the power structure.
Obviously Connecticut's legislators lack any respect the Constitution and have zero gratitude to the generations of people who gave their careers, lives, treasure, and intellectual powers to achieving and defending Constitutional rights.
On a happier note, I hope that your novel is going well.
I always appreciate your input.