Others say allowing the church to opt out of the law is nothing short of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
What do you think?
For various reasons, people are not able to raise their children and they appropriately put them up for adoption. But those parents still have the right to entrust their children to others who will, in their opinion, raise them in an appropriate way.
It seems to me, that people entrust their children to Catholic adoption agencies in large part because those agencies hold to morals very close to their hearts. And make no mistake — sexual conduct, unlike ethnicity, is a matter of moral choices.
The church must be allowed to make distinctions based on biblically defined morality. We have a unique nature and make a unique contribution to society as "the household of God" and "the pillar and support of the truth." "The temple of God is holy," wrote the Apostle Paul, "and that is what you are."
Granted, we in the church have much moral house-cleaning to do. But especially in light of the preponderance of government and private adoption agencies, forcing the church to conform to the morals of the world is the wrong thing to do.
PASTOR JON BARTA
Valley Baptist Church
Burbank
I would ask if the church adoption agencies receive public money in support of their budgets. If so, then I believe that they have a decision to make. Do they want the money the public provides to them to perform this service? If so, then they should be required to follow the law. If they do not receive public money, then I believe that they should be allowed to follow their conscience stemming from their understanding of Scripture.
