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These 80 Christian leaders are plotting the abolition of LGBT legal protections

These 80 Christian leaders are plotting the abolition of LGBT legal protections
Photo: Nancy Wiechec/Catholic News Service
Declaring that compromise will “crush Catholics,” a leader in the church revealed an effort by “80 Christian leaders—including four leading Catholic bishops and many Catholic education leaders,” to address what they described as a very serious threat looms with so-called SOGI laws.”

“SOGI” is their acronym for sexual orientation and gender identity, the “loaded terms” which Patrick J. Reilly wrote directly contradict Christian anthropology and deny truth, and run “contrary to Christian and American values.”

Reilly is president and founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, “which promotes and defends faithful Catholic education” and is a homeschool teacher. His message to readers in the National Catholic Register: “timidity and false compromise will bring ruin to our culture and our freedom to live and teach the Catholic Faith.”

According to Reilly, the church leaders signed a document to support the First Amendment Defense Act and prevent what he called a potentially even worse development:

“The SOGI threat could worsen if politicians are persuaded by certain Christians who seem, astonishingly, willing to compromise in support of SOGI laws. It’s a serious tactical error to accept legal protections for ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ in exchange for tenuous exemptions for religious organizations.

That’s a bargain that gives up a bedrock principle—not only an article of faith, but a truth of human anthropology—in exchange exceptions that are unlikely to survive if our culture fully embraces what Pope Francis calls the modern ‘gender ideology.'”

Reilly also mentioned that the so-called threat to Catholics will be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court this term as it reviews the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student in Virginia who has been fighting for the right to use school bathrooms matching his gender identity, claiming Title IX offers that protection, as mandated by the Obama administration. “That interpretation of Title IX,” Reilly wrote, “clearly contrary to the original intent of Congress to prevent discrimination against women.”

RNS PHILLY CHAPUT
Nancy Wiechec/Catholic News Service

The greatest danger, wrote Reilly, is the danger posed by compromise of Christian values.

“To be sure, a religious exemption to a SOGI law might protect religious schools, colleges, hospitals, etc. in the short term, and we should strive to include exemptions in any SOGI bill that seems likely to pass against our strong opposition.

“But let’s not deceive ourselves! We cannot expect that activists will be content to allow religious “dissent” from their false ideology. Recent experience in California has shown how vicious lawmakers can be against religious colleges that have legitimately claimed religious exemptions to the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX.

“In addition, the exemptions sought by some SOGI promoters provide no protection for individual Catholics and other Christians who believe as our faith teaches that there are two God-given sexes and marriage is between a man and a woman. It is a mistake for Catholic and other Christian organizations to cut a deal to try to provide themselves with some protection at the expense of leaving individuals at the mercy of runaway bureaucrats and activists. Just ask the bakers and photographers.”

The leaders who signed the document, according to Reilly, include:

  • Archbishop Charles Chaput (pictured above), chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth;
  • Bishop Frank Dewane, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development;
  • Archbishop William Lori, chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty; and
  • Bishop George Murry, chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education.

Of the 31 leaders of Christian colleges and schools who signed the statement, five are presidents of Catholic colleges: Sister Mary Sarah Galbraith, O.P., of Aquinas College (Tenn.); James Towey of Ave Maria University; Father Sean Sheridan, T.O.R., of Franciscan University of Steubenville; Dr. Derry Connolly of John Paul the Great Catholic University; and Dr. William Fahey of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts.

Also: Ryan Anderson of The Heritage Foundation, Anthony Esolen of Providence College, Thomas Farr of Georgetown University, Robert George of Princeton University, Alan Sears of the Alliance Defending Freedom and George Weigel of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

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