In a classy, not to say compassionate, move, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland (Maine) had demanded a refund of its charitable giving to a Portland homeless shelter. Read all about it.
In a classy, not to say compassionate, move, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland (Maine) had demanded a refund of its charitable giving to a Portland homeless shelter. Read all about it.
As editorialized on my LJ . . .
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
I’m kind of torn here because I have some sympathy for the church. Asking for a refund is not classy but then the homeless charity did get the money under what appears to have been false pretenses:
Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese, said the diocese requires agencies that receive funding to conform to the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church. She said Preble Street agreed to that requirement when it applied for the money.
She provided the Portland Press Herald with a copy of Preble Street’s application, signed by Mark Swann, the agency’s executive director.
In the application, filled out on Jan. 7, 2009, Swann wrote “no” when asked if his organization promotes or advocates same-sex marriage.
During the campaign leading up to the referendum in November, Preble Street was listed as a coalition partner on the “No on 1/Protect Maine Equality” Web site.
Furthermore, while I don’t agree with the church on gay marriage, I think they have an absolute right to not give money to charities that do not share their viewpoints on issues. And I also don’t understand why a homeless charity should be getting involved in gay marriage politics. I find it hard to see how same-sex marriage can have any non-trivial effect on homelessness.
I agree that the church has a right to spend its money on charities that fall in with its increasingly bizarre moral stance. And I would have been perfectly OK with them refusing to fund this particular charity in future. The fail, for me, is demanding the refund on monies already given.
. . .hmmm. I wonder if I can demand the return of all those quarters I put into the collection plate when I was a kid?
If you ask for your quarters back, make sure you get the genuine silver kind . . .