Quote of the Day

Clearly, [the Washington state Catholic bishops' argument that passage of Referendum 74 would make them the objects of discrimination] is fear-mongering. Marriage equality laws will have no effect on religious liberty, other than to strengthen religious liberty by protecting religious institutions’ freedom to decide who they will and will not marry.

The bishops’ hypothetical instances have no relation at all to the marriage law. The marriage law has nothing to do with what will be taught in school or the legalities of how businesses conduct themselves. The recent case of a New York lesbian couple suing a Vermont resort that refused to host their wedding is a case in point. Marriage equality is the law of the land in both New York and Vermont, yet the marriage equality law had no role in the legal proceedings of the suit. The couple’s case was based on a non-discrimination law, not a marriage equality law. It is illegal in Vermont for businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

– Francis DeBernardo

"Washington State Bishops Issue Pastoral Letter
Against Marriage Equality"
Bonding 2.0
September 6, 2012

Recommended Off-site Links:
Addressing the Arguments Against Same-Sex Marriage Offered by the Catholic Bishops of Washington State – The Progressive Catholic Voice (September 6, 2012).
How to Determine If Your Religious Liberty is Being Threatened in Just 10 Quick Questions – Rev. Emily C. Heath (HuffPost Religion, September 5, 2012).
Catholic Q&A on the Minnesota 'Marriage Amendment' – Michael Bayly and Florence Steichen (Sensus Fidelium, August 7, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
What Part of Jesus' Invitation to "Be Not Afraid" Don't the Bishops Get?
Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society
Responding to Whiny Catholic Bishops Who Cry Victim