The Equality Act is More Than “Not Perfect” – It’s Evil

https://thejesuitpost.org/2021/03/the-equality-act-is-not-perfect-but-can-catholics-agree-on-its-worthy-goal/

The Equality Act is Not Perfect, but Can Catholics Agree on Its Worthy Goal?

In a word, no. In two words, heck no. It’s like this guy is saying “It contains the word “The” in the title and “the” is a perfectly fine word so there must be something righteous in this piece of legislation.” It’s far from “not perfect.” It’s a dumpster fire of legislation and, as usual, women and children are the ultimate victims. As a Catholic, this brainiac should understand how it greatly limits religious freedom and the “freedom of conscience” that every “good” (AKA liberal) Jesuit likes to talk about and yet never seems to get right. Get prepared for the heart wrenching story that will prove just how evil and unaccepting those faithful Catholics are. Aaaaaaand, go!

By the way, I should clarify the author is still in formation before anyone freaks about his priesthood.

“My parents just found my books,” a young student told me with a look of anguish on his face. I was a college teacher before I became a Jesuit, and I found that when I got to know students, they often wanted to share all sorts of trivial details from their life. Judging by the look on this student’s face, however, it was clear that this was not going to be a trivial conversation.

This was not my first interaction with this student, who I’ll call Kevin for the purposes of anonymity. In our previous meetings, I had learned that Kevin was from a conservative family and was in the process of coming to terms with his sexuality as a gay man. I followed our college’s procedures for handling these situations: listened to his story, referred him to Counseling and Psychological Services, and introduced him to the LGBT student center on campus.

Sounds like an abysmal procedure. How about talking to Kevin about God’s plan for him? How about talking to Kevin about the teachings of the Church? How about talking to Kevin about his Faith instead of sending him off to a group that is all for contradicting it?

As our conversation progressed that day, I learned that the books in question were about being gay. His parents’ discovery of his literary collection let them on to something he hoped would remain hidden from them, at least until he had finished college. A week later, Kevin stopped coming to class. And two weeks after that, I learned Kevin had withdrawn from his classes after being kicked out of his parents’ house.

So many questions and so few answers. What we are being told? Parents are great big meanies. I’d first like to know what’s in the “literary collection” before judging them. Was it gay porn? Was it encouraging of the gay lifestyle? Are there other children in the house being encouraged to accept the gay lifestyle? We’ll never know.

Catholic parents have a tough row to hoe. The entire world is trying to steal our kids away from God and us. Our vocation is to get our families to Heaven. The world tells us we’re just supposed to accept everything our child does and believes. Sorry, but I don’t appreciate or accept being told we’re supposed to ditch the Faith or we’re bad parents. We know that “No!” is sometimes the answer to prayer and sometimes that’s what we’re supposed to say to our kids. It doesn’t mean we can’t be kind. It doesn’t mean we aren’t understanding, but sometimes “No more!” is the most necessary thing to say. Again, it can be heartbreaking.

What if Kevin’s parents realized that the Jesuit school he was picking up these dissenting ideas was hurting their child’s physical, moral and spiritual well-being? If I were them, I wouldn’t give another nickel to that institution. Nor should “Kevin” expect them to. Honestly, the “catholic” (small “C” intended) education system can be far more detrimental to the soul than a secular one.

What if Kevin was influencing a sibling to dissent against Church teachings? Why should they support that effort? Fund that effort in any way? Like I said, “No” can be a very loving word for all of your children, and because parents love their children it can be just tragic. Nobody’s heart is as invested in their children more than a parent.

If someone’s child was a heroin addict and was teaching their siblings that it was anything but a destructive lifestyle, we’d be cheering the parents on, but the same-sex attracted lifestyle? They’re just mean according to the likes of Nick Russell, SJ (parent to plants and sourdough starter. Yeah, that’s his self-described foray into parenting).

Does this mean there are some parents out there who have so much pride that their first response is “You’re embarrassing me! Be gone!”? Sure, but society would have you believe that this is the norm. It’s not. We’re the ones who walked the halls all night with our children when they had ear infections. We’re the ones who cried with them when their pets died. We’re the ones who mourned the loss of loved ones. We’re the ones who lost sleep after they flunked a class, a friend was mean to them, or they lost the loves of their life (at the time). We’re also the ones who struggle when our kids struggle or face what seems to be an insurmountable challenge. We’re all too willing to walk with them, and yet, at some point, we also are called to say “No.”

Moments like those with Kevin are some of the most sacred and heartbreaking that a teacher can experience. Whether they are “coming out” by sharing something dramatic like their sexuality, their gender identity, their experience of abuse, their struggles with sexism, or something relatively mundane like their very real struggle to learn how to clean their dorm room, do their laundry or their breakup with a significant other—these are the moments to remove your shoes and recognize that where you stand is holy ground. I relished this privileged space as a teacher, a space made sacred by the vulnerability, trust, and honesty of young people.

And yet, when the sun goes down, you’re likely not losing sleep over them. I guarantee that parents don’t get that luxury when our kids are hurting, because they are literally part of us. But you? You get to dole out advice that probably drives a deeper wedge between children and their parents. I realize your parenting experience description (found at the end of your article) was tongue-in-cheek but, sadly, that aptly describes your lack of skills in the parenting arena, Nick.

I have been thinking a lot about Kevin, and others who have let me into the interior space of their coming out journey as I’ve listened to the discourse surrounding the Equality Act. Two weeks ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, which would expand legal protections under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include both sexual orientation and gender identity. In effect, the bill would legally prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ people at a federal level—particularly in the areas of housing and employment.

Oh, no. You don’t get to get away with that sophomoric description. This is an anti-women, anti-religious freedom, anti-children, anti-family bill. You can also throw in a few others, like anti-employer/business rights, etc, too. Making cakes and taking pictures of same-sex weddings will be a must. No opting out. Anyone who doesn’t capitulate to the desires of a same-sex couple can and will be sued.

You will also lose your right to language. Get the pronoun wrong, even by accident, and you have now committed a fireable offense. If some get their way, it’ll be a hate crime, too.

Medical professionals will have to participate in “transitioning” everyone, from the child on up, even if they believe it to be a spiritual, psychological or physical danger to their patients. They’ll be required to dole out hormones to change the body’s natural course or perform castrations, hysterectomies, or mastectomies on otherwise physically healthy patients. Religious doctors and hospitals will in no way be exempt. You’re suggesting mutilation is either a worthy goal or it’s just not bad enough to object to. Idiocy.

And can we go back to children again? Some lunatics suggest they be given puberty blockers and hormones as young as 4 years old. Please get in line for your millstone by downplaying that one.

Don’t forget about women being the other big losers in this. Girls now have to share bathrooms with biological males and (Shocker!) some have already been physically assaulted. Is Nick Russell, SJ, just going to say that’s a minor problem?  Women now have to compete against biological males in sports where they could actually be killed by that brute strength. Does Nick consider that just another minor inconvenience to women? Being dominated in a sport by males allowed to compete as female can also be a blow to their mental status. We’ve just taken women’s rights and thrown them back to the stone age just so men with a dysphoria can get the attention they’ve so been seeking and dominate women in a way they’ve never been able to before. Congratulations, Nick.

And the homeless? You can kiss shelters just for women and children goodbye. Those who are already experiencing trauma will now be subjected to being housed with biological males. The heck with them feeling threatened in the midst of their trauma.

Orphans also now have to sit in foster care longer due to religious adoption agencies shutting down left and right because they are being forced to place vulnerable children in same-sex households rather than give them what they deserve, which is to be placed with the nearest thing mirroring what they have a right to, which is their biological parents. To hell with them, too. Right, Nick?

And let’s not forget abortions. Almost every poor piece of legislation comes back to that.

So, does the Equality Act have worthy goals despite these minor little flaws that nobody will notice except the victims? NO!

I think of what the Equality Act might mean to the young LGBTQ+ people like Kevin who are coming to terms with their gender and sexual identity. Whatever else the Equality Act is (and isn’t), perhaps it can be a recognition of the struggles gay and trans youth endure by their elected leaders.

Is this the job of elected leaders? To encourage self-mutilations and dysphoria? What these kids need is to know the Heavenly Father’s never-ending love and mercy for His children. That’s not the job of elected leaders, either, but it is the job of parents and our clergy.

Of course, the Equality Act still has a long way to go. It still needs to pass the U.S. Senate, where a Republican filibuster threatens its defeat. Equally important, Catholic leaders have objected to the legislation on political grounds. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) praised the bill’s stated aim of eliminating discrimination as a “worthy purpose,” but cautions that “instead of respecting differences in beliefs, the Equality Act discriminates against people of faith.”

Garbage. The USCCB cautions against the mountain of anti-Catholic things in it.

The Catholic Health Association (CHA) makes this cautionary note even more clear: the act could erode federal laws that “recognize that certain services can present a potential conflict for some faith-based health care providers with religious or moral objections,” according to Sister Mary Haddad, RSM, president and CEO of CHA. In the eyes of Catholic leaders, the bill falls short of its intended aims because it could both threaten religious freedom and force Catholic health care providers to perform abortion procedures.

Sorry. It’s more than about how it affects Catholics. It’s about it being plain evil.

Despite their policy objections, these responses to the Equality Act contain a clear call to love. “Every person is made in the image of God and should be treated accordingly, with respect and compassion,” the USCCB statement reads, “That means we need to honor every person’s right to be free of unjust discrimination.” This is not a rejection of LGBTQ+ people. Instead, the bishops seem to fully acknowledge the need for LGBTQ+ to live in a world free from unjust discrimination even as they reject the Equality Act as the way to achieve this end.

UNJUST is rather key here, Nick. We are allowed to discriminate between good and evil acts, and we’re not judging souls when we do so.

On the same day that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, we read from the Book of Esther at Mass. Set during the Babylonian exile, Esther tells the story of a young Jewish woman (for whom the book is named) who acts to stop a genocidal plot against the Jewish community. To save her people, Esther hides her Jewish identity and wins the heart of the king. After her marriage to the king, she entreats the Jewish community to pray and fast for three days as a petition for God’s protection and salvation. After three days, Esther “comes out” to her husband, revealing her Jewish identity and implores him to protect her people. With his heart softened by God, and with a deep and abiding love for his wife, the king agrees to these requests and puts an end to the genocide his advisors have planned.

Since I first encountered the story of Esther in college, I’ve always marveled at the parallels it shares with the experience of coming out. Those with the courage to come out to friends and family deserve the same love, acceptance, and faithfulness that Esther experienced when she revealed her identity to her husband. Like Esther, we should all pray that our response to our LGBTQ+ siblings might embody the same love and compassion that characterized the king’s response to Esther.

Really? Race and sexual orientation are two very different things, but leave it to someone with Jesuit schooling to try and equate the two. Apparently, they didn’t get the message that this does not resonate with many minority communities. Liberals and conservatives actually agree on this. While I don’t agree with everything in these articles, they do show that this isn’t an accepted theory even among liberal minorities. Good luck calling them bigots.
https://atlantablackstar.com/2015/07/04/black-civil-right-and-lgbt-rights-why-they-are-not-the-same-thing/

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/being-black-and-being-gay-are-not-the-same-thing

https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2012/05/22/why-gay-is-not-the-new-black-n1068673

https://www.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2009/12/gay_rights_struggle_not_the_sa.html

What I have learned from experiences with Kevin and countless other LGBTQ+ students is that when we spend time with people who are different from us, we see in them our common human struggle and our collective need for God’s tenderness and love. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Esther gives voice to this need when she implores the Lord God to “turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness” (12:23). Esther’s lament lies at the heart of our Christian journey to find love and acceptance in a world marked by judgment and division. While the Equality Act is not yet law, nor will it ameliorate the struggles of young LGBTQ+ people, perhaps we can pray with Esther that a larger conversation can move us towards wholeness, where more of God’s children might feel held in the tender embrace of our loving God.

I’m always amazed at the hubris of Jesuits like these who think nobody but them knows people struggling with same-sex attraction. Sorry. We actually live in the world. I guarantee most parents agonize over every minute that our children may wander far from God’s teachings and us, and they hope to experience the joy of the return of the Prodigal Son. Does this guy realize how much easier it would be on a parent just to say “Do whatever you want and let’s all be happy and cordial every minute of the day”? The reality is that this line of thought has some serious and lasting consequences, so those of us who truly love our children put their well-being first.

[Editor’s Note: The original article misidentified the current CEO of CHA as Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, who retired in 2019. Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, is the current CEO and authored the letter referenced in this article.]

Nick Russell, SJ

Nick is currently a Jesuit Scholastic studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. A native of Phoenix, Arizona, he taught Communication Studies and coached speech and debate at California State University Long Beach before becoming a Jesuit. “ 

Nick Russell might want to spend some of his time in formation talking to parents instead of creating more of a divide between parents and their children. He also might want to realize the boatload of poison found in this piece of proposed legislation will leave a mass of victims in its wake.