Given the discussion we had on Wednesday I felt it was interesting to see the article on cnn.com which focused on a specific church in Minnesota which during the most recent election sent out a DVD which said that the parishoners needed to oppose the same sex marriage. The interesting part about this was that the church stated that they were not supporting a candidate one way or another despite there being a clear divide amongst the two politicians on this issue and in sending this out they clearly supported the stance held by Republican candidate Tom Emmer. I think this is a good example of media acting as a watch dog because despite your view fair or foul on this particular issue if there is a separation of church and state as we choose to believe in our country then our churches should not be able to send out any sort of propaganda especially over 400,000 pieces as was the case here. The other issue that was brought up in the article was the firing of a church employee when she voiced her disapproval of the campaign. The idea that needs to be realized and is being shown here is that a church should not be sending out this material because it is voter coercion that is supposed to not occur in a religious setting. This is a watchdog approach by the media because if this is allowed to occur than there cannot be as we have it a separation between church and state and at very least a church should not just arbitrarily send out something that can and in this case has offended their parishioners.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/08/minnesota.catholic.gay.marriage/index.html
First, I am very shocked and frankly kind of annoyed with people’s outrageous reactions to same sex marriage and gay rights. I am catholic, and the stance that I am supposed to take makes me angry. When it comes to this topic, I try to put myself into the situation at hand. In this specific situation in which you wrote about, I cannot even fathom what I would do if the church I attended sent out media like the one in Minnesota. I want to know why the church needed its parishioners to oppose same sex marriage, and I would really like to know what would happen if someone who attended that church decided to support the issue. On another note, is it even legal to fire someone for voicing their opinions on a political issue? I can’t believe the church got away with firing an employee because she voiced her disapproval of the campaign. I thought the people of the United States have come farther than this, but apparently I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteHey Renee,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I am going to have to disagree however and this is why..... first, this would not be voter coercion because they are not forcing their parishoners to vote against same sex marriage. In the end, the individual has the choice on how to vote. Is the Church informing their parishoners, yes. If the Church didn't then I would be scared that the Church is losing its moral obligation to inform its members on the issues covering controversial issues. Second, The seperation of Church and State is non-existant when ethics are involved. The Churches teaches ethics to the state not the other way around (forgive me for sounding demanding). Third, if same sex marriages were to be passed, or in other words legalized, the Catholic Church will never approve of this because it goes against the way God created us to be and the communion we have with each other as male and female, husband and wife. This in return, would force a conflict between "Church and State" in the sense that the gov't will not tax exempt Catholic Charities because they would not be "abiding by the rules" since the Church would not and will not marry same sex partners. Many Charities that do great things for this world such as FOOD FOR the POOR INC. just to name one, would be hurt tremendously and their mission is just what they are named, to feed the poor all over the world. Let alone there are countless other organizations that would be affected such as some adoption agencies that are run by Catholic Churches. There is more to the story than just the Church sounding like a "rule enforceer". Lastly, I will say this, in the end, we are given a choice to either listen to the Church in all her wisdom or not; but the Church will never force anyone to vote a certain, just properly inform them before they do vote. If you have any questions about this. I will be more than happy to answer them to the best of my ability.
Thank you and good night.
Damian