Prelate criticizes ‘reckless’ statement by US civil rights commission chair
September 14, 2016
Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the US bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, has responded to a statement by Martin Castro, the chairman of the US Commission on Civil Rights, that was dismissive of the claims of religious liberty.
Castro stated, “The phrases ‘religious liberty’ and ‘religious freedom’ will stand for nothing except hypocrisy so long as they remain code words for discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, or any form of intolerance.”
Castro, said Archbishop Lori, “makes the shocking suggestion that Catholic, evangelical, orthodox Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim communities are comparable to fringe segregationists from the civil rights era. These statements painting those who support religious freedom with the broad brush of bigotry are reckless and reveal a profound disregard for the religious foundations of his own work.”
Archbishop Lori added:
In a pluralistic society, there will be institutions with views at odds with popular opinion. The Chairman's statement suggests that the USCCR does not see the United States as a pluralistic society. We respect those who disagree with what we teach. Can they respect us?
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Further information:
- USCCB Religious Liberty Chairman Responds to Statement of Chairman of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCB)
- US Civil Rights Commission: non-discrimination laws take precedence over religious liberty (CWN, 9/8)
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Posted by: WNS3234 -
Oct. 13, 2016 9:06 PM ET USA
In a secular society, where consent sanctifies any human act and where personal choice is considered the ground for moral activity, and consensus the measure of Law and Morality, anything is possible. The goverments of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Communist Russia, North Korea, etc. give proof to the horrible result of such such thinking.
