Last year, Philadelphia officials desperately searched for 300 new families to help accept children. Despite that shortage, the city announced that it would no longer refer foster children to agencies that would not place them with same-sex couples.
This means that the City of Brotherly Love is kicking a Catholic foster agency to the curb for its unwillingness to place foster children with same-sex couples.
Two foster mothers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the rights of Catholic Social Services to contract with Philadelphia without placing children with same-sex couples. Catholic Social Services serves about 120 foster children in about 100 homes. The choice not to place children with same-sex couples is grounded in the organization’s religious beliefs about traditional marriage.
This case represents an important moment for our nation. For several years, liberals have warned about an impending cultural theocracy emerging from the religious Right. Once in power, they said, Christian conservatives would impose their will and their faith on everyone.
Those Chicken Little’s had it backward. The exact opposite situation is taking place across the country.
When the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, the debate changed. More accurately, debate became no longer permissible. Anyone who questioned the legitimacy of gay marriage faced accusations of being anti-gay or homophobic. The political class, from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama — both of whom once defended traditional marriage — either gave in to the political winds or openly embraced a position they had long concealed from the public.
Now, traditional marriage could return to the high court, and the stakes have never been higher. If religious groups are forced to abandon their faith in order to serve the needy, they will choose their faith, and the needy will needlessly suffer.
There is a legacy of religious people serving the less fortunate since the founding of this country and before. The three theological virtues of Christianity are faith, hope, and charity. The need to help others across communities flows from prayer and devotion in following God. The Gospel supports these principles. As Christ put it, “I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”
This same generous impulse started St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which provides free treatment to pediatric patients. In a separate arena, individuals such as Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr. led the battle for emancipation and civil rights, because they were both compelled by their faith to fight for freedom.
At a time when the nation struggles to find enough social service support to help everyone in need, it can ill afford to refuse help from groups whose only “sin” is abiding by tenets of their faith that go back thousands of years.
The Supreme Court can set things straight by taking up this case and setting the record straight. The First Amendment protects not just religious beliefs but also actions taken in light of those beliefs. The court recently protected the rights of traditional believers in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, ruling that the state of Colorado must maintain neutrality toward religious beliefs when enforcing anti-discrimination laws. The state had not done this when it sanctioned the baker for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
In Philadelphia, city officials established a belief-based litmus test against Catholic Social Services. The consequences are far-reaching for the Christians involved in providing social services across the country. Catholic Social Services allows foster families to act as Good Samaritans to children in need of care and support.
The city’s policy leaves Catholic Social Services with a choice is between walking away from providing essential services or compromising important religious principles which violate the conscience of believers. Philadelphia and the liberal activists who would impose their own personal mandate on Catholic Social Services sound more like Moscow or Pyongyang than an American city. A free society allows individuals to flourish and find fulfillment by practicing their faith and putting their prayers into actions to serve the less fortunate without restrictions.
Donavan Wilson is a writer in Washington, D.C., writer who covers culture, religion, spirituality, and politics.
