Church and state are slugging it out in Illinois.
Two months ago, the state’s Department of Children and Family Services notified Catholic Charities that the department intended to terminate its foster care and adoption contracts with the state because the church was unwilling to abide by the state’s new civil unions law.
That is, Catholic Charities was not willing to place children with same-sex couples.
Catholic Charities sued and argued it should not be forced to place children in the homes of unmarried couples. A Sangamon County judge sided with the state and ruled that no one has a legal right to a state contract.
Catholic Charities asked the judge to reconsider that ruling. A hearing scheduled for Friday was postponed to allow Catholic Charities to further document its case.
Gov. Pat Quinn, who is a Catholic, has staunchly supported the state.
The law is the law, he said. Organizations that chose not to place children with gay couples were choosing not to participate in the state’s foster care and adoption programs, he said.
The same sort of sentiment was echoed by the law’s chief House sponsor, state Rep. Greg Harris, a Democrat from Chicago.
“They’re totally within their rights to determine who can or cannot be married under their church law,” Harris said. “But here, they’re coming to the state to get contracts to provide government services on behalf of the state. They can’t pick and choose which Illinoisans they think are worthy of those services.”
Quinn and Harris make good arguments except for the troubling fact that neither of them mentioned the children.
What is best for the kids? If the argument were framed that way, I think the church would win this argument.
Catholic agencies have been working with the state for more than 40 years. By all accounts, these agencies have done a fine job. According to a story by my colleague Jesse Bogan, five of 15 agencies with the highest performance ratings last year outside of Chicago were Catholic. The Catholic agencies take care of about 25 percent of the state’s foster kids.
Would it help or hurt the kids to exclude the Catholic agencies? The answer seems simple.
In fairness, I have heard supporters of the state’s position argue that they are indeed thinking of the best interests of the kids. Why should children who need care be deprived of that care simply because it is offered by Adam and Steve?
That would be a winning argument if Catholic agencies took care of all the state’s foster kids. Truth is, Adam and Steve could simply go to another agency and sign up to be foster parents. And good for them. God bless people who want to help. Gay or straight.
As regular readers know, I don’t support the church’s position on homosexuality. If gay people want to get married, fine with me.
When people say it undermines traditional marriage, I shake my head. I have seen friends get divorced for all sorts of reasons, but never because a couple of gay guys got married in some state that allows it.
Friends who disagree often use the slippery slope argument. If gays can get married, why can’t an adult marry a child? Or a person marry an animal? When will it stop?
Now I hear the same sort of slippery slope arguments about this fight in Illinois. If the state allows private agencies to discriminate against gays, what about discriminating on the basis of race? When will it stop?
I don’t like slippery slope arguments — that if you allow one thing, you have to allow everything. You don’t. You look at each situation and make a determination. We set standards. That’s what a society does.
In the Illinois case, you don’t have to agree with the church about civil unions. I certainly don’t. Although I support gay marriage, I think civil unions are a nice compromise. The state will recognize the union of two gay people, but religious institutions are free to determine for themselves if they want to allow marriage.
In a more harmonious world, that would be that. But we have yet to achieve harmony, and if faith-based agencies argue that their religious beliefs are harmed by having to place children with same-sex couples, I think we have to turn to the heart of the matter. What is best for the kids we’re supposed to be helping?
Church beats state in this case.
