Liberal WA State Attacks Christian Religious Rights with New Law
Democrat administrations never tire of targeting the religious rights of Christians in blue states. A new law in Washington State is the latest example of this liberal antagonism toward the Christian faith. The law specifically targets Catholic priests and has attracted the attention of Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ).
Townhall reported last month that the DOJ has launched an investigation into a new law passed in WA State that makes it mandatory for Catholic priests to report child abuse they learn about during confessions. Thus, the law forces Catholic priests to break their seal of the sacrament of Reconciliation – the commitment of the priest, or anyone overhearing a confession of sins, not to disclose the information to anyone.
The law, signed by the state’s Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson, evoked the concerns of the Catholic community over its encroachment on their religious tenets. For the Catholic priests, it has become a double-edged sword against their faith and service since revealing any information during the confessions means they would be going against their religious duty. In fact, they can be removed from the priesthood for such a violation by the church’s higher authorities. When the law was passed, the Archdiocese of Seattle issued a statement warning priests against complying with the law:
Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated from the Church.
The DOJ was cited in the story criticizing the WA law for violating the First Amendment rights of clergy. The agency said that it would investigate the conflict between the state law and the First Amendment rights of the religious communities affected by it. The issue has already gone to the courts in the meantime.
On May 29, The Pillar reported that bishops from the three dioceses of WA filed a lawsuit challenging the law that forces priests to break the seal of confession. The story wrote:
The suit argues that the law constitutes religious discrimination, because it demands that priests violate the norms of the Catholic Church to adhere to the reporting requirements, while at the same time explicitly exempting multiple other groups from those requirements.
The latter part of the statement implies that the WA law is engaging in discrimination against the Catholic priests, as it exempts other people from reporting child abuse. Such discrimination would be unconstitutional.
The story also noted that a 2016 lawsuit in Louisiana over the same issue ended in a win for the Catholic community as the State Supreme Court ruled against forcing priests to violate the seal of confession.
Also, during the previous month, Christians in WA came under direct attack by leftist activists at a rally in Seattle. The Christian organization MayDay USA, which advocates against abortion, held a rally in support of religious freedom. As reported in the Washington Examiner, hundreds of Christian participants in the rally held prayers in public for upholding “the sanctity of human life.” Multiple leftist groups supporting abortion came out to confront the Christians, leading chaos and police action to block the leftist violence. Not surprisingly, the leftist mayor of Seattle blamed the Christian conservatives for the confrontation.
Keith Graves of Christian Warrior Training Newsletter covered the events of the day in a special podcast that was posted to YouTube on May 26.
Dempsey seems to favor priests hiding child abuse. Basically, I think the law is feckless given that people will just stopping saying that to priests. At least when they told them, the priest might attempt to get the person to do the right thing.
They don’t have to break the confessional seal. They DO have to REPORT suspected child abuse, wherever and however they learn about it. My recommendation: get the pertinent one to confess, get punished, and get help, before they report realizing they have only moments to make that happen before they are aiding and abetting. Personally, I will take excommunication before a felony arrest.
Five states, or 10% of our States do this now. West Virginia is one of them. That tells me that either WV thinks this is important, or what they say about WV and family is true enough they feel extra support is warranted. Go figure. West Virginia.
Find it interesting. With zero respects for libtards, who actually are the biggest child abusers, it is clear they are targeting conservative Christians specifically and they came up with a clever plot. The discrimination point is notable.