Less bling, more charity

The Catholic Church, in this case the Catholic Church of Illinois because the church is divided up territories just like the Hells Angels, are hopping mad because the government is balking at giving them money with which to go forth and discriminate:

Roman Catholic bishops in Illinois have shuttered most of the Catholic Charities affiliates in the state rather than comply with a new requirement that says they must consider same-sex couples as potential foster-care and adoptive parents if they want to receive state money. The charities have served for more than 40 years as a major link in the state’s social service network for poor and neglected children.

[…]

For the nation’s Catholic bishops, the Illinois requirement is a prime example of what they see as an escalating campaign by the government to trample on their religious freedom while expanding the rights of gay people. The idea that religious Americans are the victims of government-backed persecution is now a frequent theme not just for Catholic bishops, but also for Republican presidential candidates and conservative evangelicals.

“In the name of tolerance, we’re not being tolerated,” said Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., a civil and canon lawyer who helped drive the church’s losing battle to retain its state contracts for foster care and adoption services.

But wait… there’s more:

The bishops are engaged in the religious liberty battle on several fronts. They have asked the Obama administration to lift a new requirement that Catholic and other religiously affiliated hospitals, universities and charity groups cover contraception in their employees’ health plans. A decision has been expected for weeks now.

At the same time, the bishops are protesting the recent denial of a federal contract to provide care for victims of sex trafficking, saying the decision was anti-Catholic. An official with the Department of Health and Human Services recently told a hearing on Capitol Hill that the bishops’ program was rejected because it did not provide the survivors of sex trafficking, some of whom are rape victims, with referrals for abortions or contraceptives.

So how much money are we talkin’ about here? Couldn’t the church dig a little deeper into their own pockets and make up the difference? Doubtfully…

Catholic Charities is one of the nation’s most extensive social service networks, serving more than 10 million poor adults and children of many faiths across the country. It is made up of local affiliates that answer to local bishops and dioceses, but much of its revenue comes from the government. Catholic Charities affiliates received a total of nearly $2.9 billion a year from the government in 2010, about 62 percent of its annual revenue of $4.67 billion. Only 3 percent came from churches in the diocese (the rest came from in-kind contributions, investments, program fees and community donations).

You foot the bill, they get the Jesus points redeemable for eternal salvation and/or valuable prizes like  Broncos season tickets.

So let’s review the State of Funding in America today, shall we?

• Conservatives and the Catholic Church want precious tax dollars which are socialistically ripped from the hands of God-Fearing American Tax Payers even though they discriminate against some of those same God-Fearing American Tax Payers which is illegal.

• On the other hand… conservatives, Catholics and other religious groups who worship a slightly different iteration of a Supreme Yet Unseen God than the Catholics do, want to strip some of those same precious tax dollars away from Planned Parenthood which provides much needed medical care for poor women because PP also performs abortions, which I might add, are legal in these here United States of America.

Got that?

To be fair, I could see the church needing some of those socialist dollars back when money was tight, but now that they’ve got their spending habits under control, maybe they could toss in a few extra bucks and help an Illinois brother out…