Let's pretend that I got together with some of my Catholic friends—let's also say that I had returned to the Mother Church myself after suffering a blow to the head—and let's say my friends and I started a charity that placed children in the homes of qualified foster parents and oversaw adoptions. Now let's pretend that our charity refused to place children in the homes of Jews—or Muslims or Hindus or atheists or Lutherans or members of Mars Hill Church—because, according to our sincerely held religious beliefs, Jews and Muslims and Hindus and atheists and Lutherans and members of Mars Hill Church go to hell. Since only Catholics go to heaven, placing children in homes where they would be raised as Jews or Muslims or Hindus or atheists or Lutherans or members of Mars Hill Church would essentially mean that we were condemning children to hell!

This would could not in conscience do! Sincerely held religious beliefs and like that! So no kids for Jews, sorry, and you can fuck off too, Lutherans, atheists, etc.

Now how many government contracts do you suppose our charity would be awarded per annum? Um, none. And how seriously would people take our claims that by refusing to shower us with public money the government was trampling on our religious freedom? Not at all.

Catholic Charities and the Catholic Church are free to discriminate against anyone they wish... but not on the public dime. And while Catholic Charities and the Catholic Church are free to discriminate against anyone they wish, it seems they only wish to discriminate against gays and lesbians. (And they're willing to harm children in the process.) Now maybe it would never occur to the Catholic Church to discriminate against other groups of people (Jews, Muslims, atheists, Lutherans, etc.)... or maybe the Church realizes that it couldn't get away with discriminating against other groups of people (ding! ding! ding!). Either way, what the Catholic Church is demanding here is a "special right" to discriminate against gays and lesbians while spending $2.9 billion in public money every year.

And this is not a right to which they are entitled.