by Josh Console

Created on: March 16, 2009   Last Updated: March 20, 2009

It is perfectly acceptable for Connecticut to remove control of parish finances from the Catholic diocese for one very simple reason: it is a justifiable action with no laws forbidding it. Those who would argue against this bill on the basis of separation of church and state are filling the role of hypocrite to a T. Senator McDonald and Representative Lawlor are responding to the disturbing trend of abuse of parish funds by the Catholic diocese. No aspect of this bill has any effect on religious practices of the Catholic religion. Instead, it merely seeks to place regulations on a business that legislatures have heretofore neglected, to the detriment of parishioners' dollars. The Connecticut government has appropriately reserved itself from distinguishing in any way the business component of the church from any secular company. Those who argue against the proposed regulations are in fact requesting special treatment for business conducted on behalf of the priests and bishops of Connecticut, inherently failing to separate church and state.

To properly assess the situation without bias, on must view the leaders of the Catholic Church as businessmen. For a certain fee, these individuals provide a service to their congregation; the invocation of God in these services is irrelevant. Unfortunately, these businessmen face a crippling blow to their limitless power within the hierarchy of their business. Whereas monetary actions of the church have gone unmonitored to this point, they will now be executed entirely and solely by the parish. Just as a dictator will squeamishly protest the democratization of a nation, so has the diocese rebelled against this proposed transition of power. Although they should have no reservations in transferring control of funds to those who actually contribute the money in question, the bishopric has launched a full-fledged campaign against it.

What form has this crusade taken? None other than an army of priests and parishioners alike, flocking to a battle on the pretense, they believe, that this action is a political attack against the church's stance on gay rights and abortion. "Anti-Catholicism" and "prejudice" are two of the terms being slung around to coerce an angry mob into lighting their torches and sharpening their pitch forks and marching straight to the hearing on this bill. The same group of people known to use money meant for God to rather unholy ends have twisted the intentions of two state legislators so that they may preserve the ease with which they can misappropriate church funds to their own ends. The fact of the matter is that this is an industry long in need of strict regulations. Citizens of Connecticut, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, would be severely mistaken in opposing this effort, especially on the basis of "discrimination" and "religious intolerance" offered by those at great risk of having their wrongs righted.

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