Catholic Bishops - Misinformed or Just Plain Liars

I would like to respond to Frank J. Dewane’s , the Roman Catholic Bishop of Venice and his staff on their recent comments in a number of publications throughout Florida. The title of an article in Ft. Myers was “It isn’t discrimination, its tradition”. To be honest “tradition” should never trump reality. It was tradition to think that the world was flat and for centuries by Bishop Dewane’s Church. They, the Roman Bishops forced that theory on all humankind at the time. It is also certain that Bishop Dewane’s community of Bishops took it upon themselves to hide illegal abuse of children. I know they, the Bishops, want to forget their collusion and slide it under the rug but it is not going to happen as long as he and his Community of Bishops insist on perpetrating discrimination and crimes against innocent taxpaying US Citizens. The Roman Bishop pronounces that no one will lose any benefits by the passage of Amendment 2. The Bishop is either naive or a liar. The truth is that those promoting this initiative, when and if passed, will immediately pursue the elimination of domestic partner benefits. They did that in Michigan and Kentucky and when they can free up enough money from their Crusade in California they will do the same in every other State where these amendments have been passed. Bishop Dewane apparently has no real dog in this fight, as a bishop of the Catholic Church his Health Care insurance is fully covered, he will have a nice cushy place to rest his head every night in a Catholic Palace. I know that priests who want to speak out against discrimination are stuck in the reality of their circumstances and are fearful of being homeless should they speak truth to power. In the meantime people are struggling in this country, retirees are losing their nest eggs, people are losing their jobs, more and more people are becoming homeless and the only thing the Bishop of Venice seems to be worried about is diminishing the lives of same gender couples. I think the Bishop needs to stop taking his orders from a fax from the Vatican and start being a Pastor.

Venice Florida - Roman Catholic Bishop is a Liar

Venice Florida - Catholic Bishop is a Liar

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, the Cradle of Liberty. When I was twelve years old my Club and I, the Eagles, would hop a trolley car and carry our flag to downtown Philadelphia and have a Club meeting in either Independence Hall or Carpenter’s Hall. Back in those days Philadelphia did not recognize the importance of the “Tourist Trade” so the keepers of those National Treasures let us kids have our meetings in those hallowed halls.
Even then, we kids understood the importance and the meaning of Democratic Republic theory. Sadly, most Americans and some Religious Communities who take their orders from other nations don’t understand the meaning of Democratic Republic. Our forefathers were very thoughtful in allowing most religions free to practice without harm or prejudice.
All Americans should be grateful that the men who met in Philadelphia in 1776 were so forethoughtful that they established our Nation’s government in a way that the majority would not be in a position to subjugate any minority. They created a Constitution that would allow all minorities to protest their subjugation to majority rule. They also protected religious communities from government control by ensuring that the State would not establish a religion. In other words, practice your religion as you see fit, but keep it to yourself. Impose your religious beliefs on your flock, those who choose to live under your rules, don’t break any of our laws, leave the kids alone, and let other American’s live as they believe. That is the American Way.
We kids, way back then, having our meetings at Independence Hall in Philadelphia understood, as our forefathers understood, that there would be times when the minority would be overwhelmed by a wealthy majority. But we also understood that people of good conscience would prevail.
The Catholic Diocese of Venice is playing fair in promoting its religious beliefs by supporting Amendment 2 in its Parish Bulletins this past Sunday. While I won’t dispute their right to promote bigotry and hatred I do dispute their premise that Amendment 2 is about “Gay marriage”. First of all “Gay Marriage” is illegal in Florida. Beyond that I am sure that the Catholic Church has absolutely no reason to fear that any gay person will be knocking on their doors asking them to perform a “gay marriage”. It just ain’t going to happen, so relax and don’t soil your cassocks.
Amendment two is truly about hate and ignorance, something the Catholic Church has promoted for centuries and probably one of the better reason it should just go away and just be part of mankinds terrible history.
While amendment 2 is indeed an attack on GLBT Marriage it’s affects on the non gay community are overwhelming. It will take away domestic partnerships rights that are currently available in Broward, Dade Counties, Tampa City, Sarasota City, Orland City in Florida and a few others.
We know this to be true, we have seen this happen in Michigan and we know they are working to make this happen in Florida.
When the Catholic Bishop of Venice says that this amendment will have no impact on people's health care, hospital rights, legal and financial rights, Social Security rights, pension rights, he is either totally misinformed probably by choice or just a plain liar. But then again we know that Catholic Bishops are below the truth.