Is the catholic church and others constitutionally protected ?

Question

When they do stupid things like blaming homosexuals for the pedophile priest scandal they tried to cover up.Also is it legal for those same churches to lobby government for laws against gay marriage when the constitution says congress shall pass no law bearing respect to an organization of religion or barring the free practice thereof.

Answer 1

Dear 2in1,
"When they do stupid things like blaming homosexuals
for the pedophile priest scandal they tried to cover up."
THE church, or A church… or a Jewish temple, or a Buddhist temple, or a Muslim Mosque are ALL protected by the constitution’s right to “free speech”… No matter how stupid you and I may think the speech is.
Yes THE church is protected from being CRIMINALLY prosecuted for the illegal acts of its representatives. They were NOT however protected from civil prosecution by the victims, or from the monetary awards imposed as a result.
"Also is it legal for those same churches to lobby
government for laws against gay marriage when the
constitution says congress shall pass no law bearing
respect to an organization of religion or barring the free
practice thereof."
No… BUT A church can mount a PR campaign and encourage it’s members to lobby for such changes as it may hold as “truth”.
Sooo if you’d like to use the facilities [And name of] Praise Fellowship Christen Church in Detroit [A decidedly LGBT church here in town.] to rally the troops and lobby apposing King Gorge’s “Defeat-of-marriage-rights” act… then be my guest.
Hugs,
PennyAnn

Answer 2

Churches are not constitutionally protected from civil lawsuits or being charged with crimes. There are churches that have gone bankrupt paying out legal settlements. They are consitutionally protected from having the government tell them what they must believe and how they must practice those beliefs.

When churches lobby the government on issues like who should marry, they are not attempting to influence religious rules about marriage, but civil rules about marriage. There are many people who can legally marry that a church might not marry. On the other hand a church might perform a marriage cermony for people that can not legally have a civil marriage.

Answer 3

Yes.

The priest scandal involved post-pubescent boys, not classic "pedophilia." I'll let others explain the ramifications.

The Catholic Church does not lobby Congress. Its members may.

Everyone has constitutional rights, even if they are religious.

Similarly, you have a right to express hostility to religion. But not to ask the government to prevent its free exercise, or to retaliate against people of faith - as Canada apparently now does.

Answer 4

Anyone wishing to be taken seriously is going to bring facts - not diatribe - to the discussion.

Here is Catholic teaching pertaining to homosexuality:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.

Given this sample of Church Doctrine, I seriously doubt the Church really is as "stupid" as you are implying it to be.

Answer 5

The church is not protected from its criminal acts. E.g. raping alterboys.

But the church enjoys the same first amendmend rights to speak its mind as everyone else. The church can blame homos for the worlds problems, they can lobby congress. the nazis can march thru jewish neighborhoods, and antiwar protester can burn american flags. it is called freedom of speech.

Answer 6

Yep... on all counts....