Salvatore J. Cordileone Quotes
In places where marriage's core meaning has been altered through legal action, officials are beginning to target for punishment those believers and churches that refuse to adapt.
Cordileone, Salvatore J. "Letter to Congress on the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act." United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 28 Feb. 2014.
The then current example was with same sex marriage. Some people who claimed that their religion declared same sex marriage as a sin and prohibited their aiding and abetting that activity. As a result, they claimed that their right of religious freedom allowed a county clerk to refuse to issue the marriage license or a hotel to refuse to allow a gay couple to rent their facility for a wedding, or a retail store to refuse to sell the couple bedding.
The then current example was with same sex marriage. Some people who claimed that their religion declared same sex marriage as a sin and prohibited their aiding and abetting that activity. As a result, they claimed that their right of religious freedom allowed a county clerk to refuse to issue the marriage license or a hotel to refuse to allow a gay couple to rent their facility for a wedding, or a retail store to refuse to sell the couple bedding.
These were the most terrible and restrictive laws against Jews who would be hunted down and forced to accept Christianity. The Visigothic laws were a combination of Visigothic tradition and the codification by Catholic Clerics. Many scholars have traced the terrible policies and practices against Jews by the Spanish throne and the Inquisition 500 years later to these earlier Spanish Visigoths and their formal legal structure. This is the most formalized and sophisticated compendium of laws of the so-called “barbaric peoples” of Europe. The compilation was in many ways a documentation of the traditional laws of the Visigoths that had evolved over hundreds of years.
Actually, there was no initial concern or protest. The New York Boards voted unanimously to approve th project, Then one woman started complaining to the media and there were a number of people who also opposed the construction of a Then Islamaphobic people joined the protest, Many politicians observed that in Saudi Arabia, the nation from which most of the 9-11 attackers came from, it is but the country, it is illegal to bring a Bible into tnot only illegal to build a Christian Church or Jewish Synagogue ANYWHERE in the nation while America already has thousands of Mosques, Most other Islamic countries make it difficult if not impossible for a non Muslims to build a place of worship. Bloomberg reminded Americans that there was no objection that the government Constitutionally could make to the proposed mosque. Although other nations may prohibit religious construction, America was unique in adopting our First Amendment, the Separation of Church and State, and while a number of countries since have emulated America, most nations have not reached the point where they have matured sufficiently to realize the importance of separation of church and state. The fact that other nations do not follow American fundamental political principles which our founding Americans adopted, certainly does not mean that we should emulate them and abandon that which has made America such a great country and an example to the world. Ironically, the Muslim Imam in charge of the building project.
Martin wanted William Howard Taft to answer questions about his religious beliefs. Taft was TR’s selection to be his successor. Ironically, a starting with John F. Kennedy, many presidential candidates have been asked about their religious belief’s and have answered whereas Roosevelt would have them not reply to such inquiries.
Alabama passed a set of laws making it a crime to assist undocumented immigrants in any way. However, many of the religions in Alabama required providing sanctuary. It would not be Christian to provide food for poor documented immigrants and their children but not provide food for poor illegal immigrants and especially their innocent children. Many of the religious groups in Alabama filed a lawsuit to declare the Alabama state laws unconstitutional. The Federal Courts did do but the basis of their ruling was the state was encroaching on a Federal function—control of immigration. The court did not have to rule on the thorny issue of interference with religion so the point has not yet been settled.
This quotation illustrates the brilliance of Scalia. He was in the minority of the Justices when he opposed gay marriage. However, instead of just writing a caustic dissent—which he did—he posed this question to one of the most brilliant attorneys in the country who was arguing the case for gay marriage. Clearly, gay marriage was not considered unconstitutional when the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution. It is almost certain that no one in those times even considered such a prospect. However, by 2013 a number of states had allowed gay marriage, and the majority of Americans favored it. The best Olsen could answer was “There us no specific data in time. This is an evolutionary cycle”. Despite his oratory tour de force, Scalia was again in the minority and his view did not prevail. Public opinion had clearly changed, and most judges believed that the interpretation of the Constitution most also change and there is no more a specific time to say exactly when that change took place than there is to say exactly when America concluded that the nation should have Prohibition or any other social norm.
Salvatore Joseph Cordileone is an American prelate of the Catholic Church and the archbishop of San Francisco, California.
