Comments

1

Because, of course, there are no gay clergy, and no gay or lesbian religious or parishioners.
Hahahahaha!

2

I don't know how to feel about this. This all started because of one horrible man who only hates and follows his own brand of stupid, so these teachers voluntarily quit in protest... even though they weren't fired or hurt directly they were just upset by this dbags docterine... it would have been better for everyone if they continued their fight as teachers instead they don't work there anymore... and want to be rehired... or something... or change Catholicism... or something...
I support them but I also support freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom for private schools to do stupid things if they want to be stupid.
They weren't forced they were given an option... it was a bad option but "forced" resignation?...
The irony of these actions is that it divides and drives away those we need in order to foment change instead of pretending that a student protest is going to do anything at a private Catholic school. The pope still won't let Priests marry or allow women at all... because you know those are serious issues in the Catholic church...

5

The irony is that the Seattle Catholic Archdiocese was arguably one of the most progressive in the U S. Sadly, the days of Bishop Hunthausen are long gone.

6

I take a mixed view of this.

On the one hand, if you believe in the First Amendment and religious freedom and the separation of church and state, then you kind of have to let a homophobic religious school fire gay teachers if it is consistent with their homophobic religious doctrine. I think it's idiotic, but I'm not a catholic. I wouldn't attend a catholic school, and I certainly wouldn't send my kids to a catholic school (if I had any). The catholic school isn't receiving any money from the state, so the state really shouldn't dictate to the school what their religious beliefs should be. Furthermore, the teachers in question would have to be pretty dumb not to realize they were sticking their heads into the lion's mouth without any legal protections. If I were a teacher, I'd never apply to teach at a catholic school, knowing full well this would be the likely result.

On the other hand, good for the students and parents for protesting. That's how change happens. The state can't force the church to change its ridiculous homophobic policies unless they abandon the First Amendment entirely. But the parishioners sure can. Protest loud and often. Sooner or later your pope will hear you. Probably long after these teachers have been hired at another school that won't treat them like shit.

7

And yet we subsidize the Catholic Church by making its property tax exempt.

8

“...they were told they could continue their employment at the school if they agreed to keep their engagements private or they could resign and be bought out of their contracts. The teachers reportedly chose the latter option and were officially dismissed from their positions last week...”

So this couple accepted money, in good faith, then made it a political issue. These nothing burgers keep getting even more amazingly huge.

You took the money, and resigned. Go get a job somewhere else you fucking hacks.

Signed,

A Queer person

9

Most priests are closeted, self-hating gays themselves. To call the Catholic Church strange hypocrites wouldn't be fair to the rest of the normal strange hypocrites.... It's beyond time to end the #CatholicCriminalEmpire! #ImagineNoReligion #ItsEasyIfYouTry

10

Please note that the protest at 9A is at the Archdiocese in Seattle. The student walk-out is at 1PM at the school.

11

I favor laicization for this very reason. Whatever religious delusion you may suffer from is not a valid reason to destroy the lives of people who work hard and contribute to society. Priests, I would argue, take but do not give- they live off donations and do not produce in return anything of value. These teachers, on the other hand, produce quite a lot of value and deserve to command our respect. If a bloodsucking leech like the members of the Catholic hierarchy wants to deprive a hard working contributor such as these teachers of their right to advance the welfare of the students they educate, that priest deserves nothing more than out contempt.

Listen, you black robed kiddie fuckers, you’ve got no business claiming someone in a committed relationship of immorality. If it were up to me, the churches would all be nationalized and remodeled into hospitals and homeless shelters, so they might at long last serve a purpose.

12

Katie Herzog writes with nuance and a good grasp of realities' subtleties. It's a shitty situation but the school isn't breaking the law. I went to Kennedy for High School but I'd never voluntarily go there as an adult. This story is a good reminder that gay rights are the Achilles hell of Catholicism. When it gets the overhaul it needs to be acceptable, it will have transformed beyond recognition. "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes". Go apply for a job whose easily viewable mission statement doesn't negate your own beliefs.

13

At one point, our society banned married women from positions in education, too.

Wrong then, wrong now.

Pro tip: God is tri-sexual.

14

There is no reason to insist that gay people working for the Catholic school system keep their sexuality secret-forcing them to maintain secrecy is based on the delusion that sexual orientation is a choice and that, if the Catholic students learn that there are gay people among them will somehow "turn gay" when they wouldn't have done that if they hadn't known there were gay people teaching them or working on staff. It doesn't work that way. Nobody in the history of sexuality ever came out as LGBTQ because they saw LGBTQ people around them, but would have lived out their live as "straight" if only they never realized non "straight" people existed in their world. People have come out as gay in Iran and Texas, for god's sakes.

15

@5: That's why the Pat Buchanan types forced Hunthausen to retire-they couldn't stand it that he wasn't heartless and paranoid about "the gay".

16

Separation of Church and State is a doctrine, it is not stated that way in the First Amendment the relevant section of which is, quote, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

The first part says that the State cannot require you to practice any religion. The second part says that the State cannot tell you how to practice whatever religion you choose.
But there are easy examples of how religion cannot be used as an excuse for breaking civil laws. Murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault cannot be legitimized by religion. In not enough states yet, even ex-gay torture is illegal and it doesn't matter that it happen on Church property.

The catch is that the teachers' contracts have a morals clause, and they knew that going in. The flip side is that contracts are required to be fair.

And no, there is no excuse for the tax exempt status of churches. The reasoning is that they are charities, but there should be criteria they must meet for that status.


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