Today’s Denver Post reports:
Religious groups feel bullied by proposal
A lawmaker says she’s willing to discuss the bill dealing with employment discrimination.
By Electa Draper
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 01/29/2008 11:28:19 PM MSTState Rep. Alice Madden said a flawed draft of a bill, meant to repair a 2007 statute dealing with employment discrimination, has given her a little taste of hellfire.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Denver and Focus on the Family have attacked Madden’s draft, which would prevent faith-based organizations that accept government funds from hiring people of a particular religion to carry out their charitable missions.
Archbishop Charles Chaput said the bill appeared to be an attempt “to bully religious groups out of the public square.” …
“This is not meant to change real-world behavior one iota,” Madden said. “We are trying to make it clear that employers generally should not discriminate on the basis of religion. Clearly, there could be exceptions.”
It is telling that Chaput regards your money as “the public square.”
Chaput easily could resolve the issue by declining to take other people’s money by force.
But, clearly, the Christian injunction against theft poses no theological challenge to the forcible redistribution of wealth, as some religious libertarians claim.