Court Allows San Fran City Resolution Condemning Catholicism as 'Insulting,' 'Hateful'

LifeSiteNews.com ^ | October 26, 2010 | By Kathleen Gilbert

[topher]

Tuesday October 26, 2010

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Court Allows San Fran City Resolution Condemning Catholicism as 'Insulting,' 'Hateful'

By Kathleen Gilbert

SAN FRANCISCO, October 26, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has shakily allowed to stand a resolution by the city government of San Francisco that lambasted the Vatican as "meddl[ing]" and "insult[ing]" for reaffirming its teaching against homosexual adoption, and which urged Church officials to disobey the Magisterium.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2006 had issued a statement clarifying that Catholic Church agencies, in line with the Church's moral teaching on sexuality, should not hand over children to homosexual couples seeking to adopt. The statement was prompted by Catholic Charities branches in Boston and San Francisco choosing to cooperate with homosexual couples seeking adoption.

As a result, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors later that year issued a nonbinding resolution that personally attacked Cardinal William Levada, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and former archbishop of San Francisco, and his directive as "discriminatory and defamatory."

The board urged San Francisco archbishop George Niederauer and the local Catholic Charities "to defy all discriminatory directives of Cardinal Levada," whom they dubbed "a decidedly unqualified representative of his former home city." The resolution also lashed out at the Vatican's teaching role in the Catholic faith as an instance of "meddling" by a foreign country.

"It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great city's existing and established customs and traditions, such as the right of same-sex couples to adopt and care for children in need," wrote the supervisors.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and two San Francisco Catholic citizens, represented by Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center, filed suit against the city, claiming that the resolution violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. A federal judge in December 2006 dismissed the case, stating that the Vatican had "provoked this debate" by issuing the statement.

The decision was upheld by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit before it was decided that an 11-judge panel should hear the case.

On Friday, the Ninth Circuit court was split on the case both in terms of its merits and the standing of the plaintiffs to bring the case forward. Only six judges examined the merits of the case, and were split 3-3; however, the court ultimately rejected the suit 8-3.

In an opinion joined by Judges Barry Silverman, Sidney Thomas and Richard Clifton, it was decided that the Supervisors "have the right to speak out in their official capacities on matters of secular concern to their constituents, even if their statements might offend the religious feelings of some of their other constituents," according to the Courthouse News Service.

However, in the minority opinioin, Justices Andrew Kleinfeld, Sandra Ikuta and Jay Bybee said that, "For the government to resolve officially that 'Catholic doctrine is wrong,' is as plainly violative of the Establishment Clause as for the government to resolve that 'Catholic doctrine is right."

The Thomas More Law Center has vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/oct/10102609.html

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[Hodar]

Kindly report to your nearest Re-Education Camp to correct this serious problem.
:-)

[fml]

"It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great city's existing and established customs and traditions, such as the right of same-sex couples to adopt and care for children in need," wrote the supervisors.

Foreign country???

This is the same twisted logic that wants to make us believe Islam is a race that needs protection from racism....but Catholics are now a race that needs to to silenced??

Sickening

[Spok]

This validates my decision to become a Catholic 15 years ago. Some things you just know are right when it pisses off the right people.

[silverleaf]

Is this a federal court upholding a law regarding an establishment or religion and prohibiting the free exercise thereof?

[beezdotcom]

I guess they hypocritical...

I don't know about that - hypocrisy is "pretending to hold a belief that you don't", and not merely "failure to live up to a belief that you hold". I don't know them well enough to know which is true here.

But clearly, not every act committed by a Christian is Christ-like.

[NormsRevenge]

The very existence of the SF Stupidvisors in Sodom by the Sea is ‘insulting’ in my book.

They are a low form of life that adds no value to the community other than derision and hatred towards anyone who doesn’t kiss their butt.. among other things.

When the big one comes, I hope they are in session.. We’ll see how well all the dough spent to seismically firm up City Hall holds up.

[PatriotGirl827]

“Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:11-12

[Allegra]

Soddom and Gomorrah.

Don't look back Nancy, lest you become a pillar of salt.

[WayneS]

...it was decided that the Supervisors "have the right to speak out in their official capacities..."

In the above statement those who signed on to this decision showed his/her incompetance as a judge by not making it clear that, vis-a-vis actions which affect the citizenry, governments exercise POWERS in their 'offical capacities', they do not exercise Rights.

What these 'judges' ACTUALLY did was rule that the SanFranSupervisors have the POWER to 'speak out' (whatever THAT means) and slander a particular religion. But I suppose the term 'power' does not fall as pleasingly on the ears of left-coast-leftist as the terms 'right' and 'speak out'.

[Rashputin]

Actually, I'm very pleased with this turn of events but I confess that it is a sin for me to be pleased by it.

Why, you might ask, am I pleased? Because God is not mocked. The sooner the fascist shed all pretense of wanting all faiths to be equal and move to openly mocking His Church the sooner they will reap the temporal consequences of their own actions seven fold. That's why I have to ask forgiveness for this pleasing me, it's a sin to be anxious to see others suffer the way these people will.

Regards

[WayneS]

No, please Nancy, look back... LOOK BACK!

[massgopguy]

Catholic Charities in Boston ceased its adoption ministry.

[Ballygrl]

BTTT!

[WayneS]

The first sentence should have contained “...each of those...” NOT simply “...those...”

Sorry about that.

[Marty62]

Well made all Christians should not make San Fran a tourist destination. They don’t want Christians anyway.

[WayneS]

A model of tolerance.

[savagesusie]

She is not a Catholic. She is a hedonist pagan who worships the earth gods. She should have been excommunicated years ago.

This is the cultural Marxist ideology which is fascist and does not allow the freedom of religion or anything that disagrees with their glorification of sexual perversion which has always led to sodomizing boys. Read Burrough’s and NAMBLA loving Ginsberg, a celebrated homosexual.

They are promoting sexual immorality—exactly what existed at pagan Roman orgies where there was rampant pederasty and child sacrifice and slavery. Get out of your sewer, SF.

Christianity put woman on equal status with men—gave everyone worth, created individuality. Marxist ideology elevates the collective which is fascist....one way to think and gives government the rights to kill individuals that are useless eaters or dissenters. LEAVE the fascist leftist ideology....it is deadly.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

This type of activity is a typical leftist and/or pervert technique; i.e. simply make an assertion then have a friendly press "Boom" the assertion. They have inverted standard morals; black is white, sodomy is a virtue heterosexuality in marriage is a vice etc. etc. The aforementioned is why many people refer to things as "upside down."

More dangerous is the fact that perverts are now occupying positions of authority. This is very damgerous for the healthy portion of society.

[bunkerhill7]

eummm throw the Christians to the lions at the SF zoo? What`s next?

""It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great city's existing and established customs and traditions..."

deja vu all over agin:

"The Roman disdain for Christianity, then, arose in large part from its sense that it was bad for society. In the 3rd century, the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry wrote:

How can people not be in every way impious and atheistic who have apostatized from the customs of our ancestors through which every nation and city is sustained? ... What else are they than fighters against God? " -wikipedia

[WOBBLY BOB]

The resolution also lashed out at the Vatican's teaching role in the Catholic faith as an instance of "meddling" by a foreign country.

I bet they REALLY hate the UN...(sarc)