This should serve as a warning to every Catholic school in America. The Cardinal Newman Society has this shocking report:
Immediately following today’s ruling that a New York Catholic college is not “religious” under federal law, The Cardinal Newman Society published an analysis from a top legal expert advising Catholic college leaders on ways to protect their religious freedoms by maintaining a strong Catholic identity.
“Federal and state laws are increasingly being used to coerce religious institutions into actions and commitments that violate deeply held religious convictions and moral principles,” warns Kevin Theriot, Senior Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, in the analysis entitled “Protecting Catholic Colleges from External Threats to Their Religious Liberty,” which is posted at CatholicHigherEd.org.
So now you have judges deciding who’s Catholic enough. In this case the decision was made to allow for unionization but in the future it’s not a stretch to see them judging in cases of conscience.
And I would ask how many Catholic colleges would have a leg to stand on in attempting to prove that they’re a religious institution. I’d bet not many.
You really should read the rest at Campus Notes.
January 12, 2011 at 3:42 am
My son is in a Catholic college..This semester He's taking his required course in religion. I asked him for the textbook title and who the publisher was..He said he was told the course is going to be heavy in Catholic social teaching…
I told him to hire me as his tutor…cause I think we're about to find how much Catholic identity this college really has.
January 12, 2011 at 3:45 am
Do any of their profs have a mandata? Noooo For once, the Feds are doing the Church a favor in forcing the CINOs to get off the fences and get orthodox or else!
January 12, 2011 at 5:05 am
I'm as pleased as anyone that this could force colleges to take their Catholic identity seriously, but there's something more basic going on here that is troubling, and I think the bad outweighs the good: since when does the government have the right to decide who is and is not Catholic? What if judges decide that orthodox schools aren't Catholic because they're not "compassionate" toward AIDS patients when they refuse to hand out condoms on mission trips? What if judges decide a school is not Catholic because it doesn't fit the judge's personal brand of "Catholicism?" How can Satan use this new found jurisdiction?
Ironic, isn't it, since these same people will likely insist no bishop has the right to tell them they aren't Catholic for backing abortion or euthanasia…
January 12, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Exactly. CINO schools getting under the gun is a good consequence, but the principle of Caesar ruling on it stinks.
January 12, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Just a thought…
Doesn't the IRS have a methodology for determining if an organization is a true religion vs. one that is simply claiming being a religion for fraudulent tax (and other) purposes (Scientology, Jedi, etc.)? It's frightening to have a government agency do this, but I think we can all see the necessity of it. Does it have something to do with whether the members truly hold the beliefs of the organization? Wouldn't be interesting if CINO university administrators failed that test!