In the course of looking for links to this post I found an interesting document published last year at the Suffolk University Law Review on the matter The Gospel According to the State: An Analysis of Massachusetts Adoption Laws and the Closing of Catholic Charities Adoption Services:
The Massachusetts Constitution declares the equality of all people and the right of all people to practice religion as they see fit.2 In article XVIII, the Massachusetts Constitution also declares it unlawful for the state government to pass any law that prohibits an individual’s right to the free exercise of religion.
That John Adams he sure could write.
The Author Matthew Clark point out a salient fact:
Founded in 1903, Catholic Charities has placed more children in adoptive homes than any other state-licensed adoption agency.
Not any more they don’t. This document deserves a whole lot more attention that it ever got so read the whole thing but if you are not inclined to go for 18 pages here is the meat from the conclusion:
The debate over a religious exemption wrongly focuses on whether homosexuals should be able to adopt from all agencies in the state, regardless of a particular agency’s beliefs or founding principles. Safely couched in the language of antidiscrimination and equality, opponents of an exemption mask the unsettling truth that pursuing equality at any cost betrays the very purpose of adoption to serve and protect the welfare of children.
Denying a religious exemption to agencies providing services for needy children only serves to further the rights of a small group of potential adoptive parents rather than the best interests of children needing adoption… Ultimately, in the name of equality, Massachusetts has set aside the interests of needy children and contravened the very purpose of its adoption laws. (all emphasis mine)
That is called Narcissism.
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