The jumping off discussion area for the rest of the Deck. All things Lakewood.
Please check out our other sections. As we refile many discussions from the past into
their proper sections please check them out and offer suggestions.
Just for clarification: the City, who just introduced anti-discrimination legislation has asked LCA, who can fire any employee for showing support to the gay community - to act as Grand Marshal of the 4th of July Parade?
Who comes up with this stuff??
On a day we celebrate freedom, we honor those who discriminate . . .
You can find the contract in entirety on the Cleveland Catholic Diocese website, but here it is in a nutshell:
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Our report Friday about the Cleveland Catholic Diocese asking teachers at 104 elementary schools to sign a more detailed "morality clause" sparked strong reaction from readers and several questions.
Here are a few updates and clarifications we didn't have time to include Friday, including more details on firings and court cases involving Catholic school teachers in other cities, a summary of a 2012 Supreme Court case that affects the contracts, and a link to find all the affected schools.
As a recap, the new teacher contract bans, as does a similar contract that sparked protest and a 24,000-signature petition in Cincinnati recently, “public support of positions contrary to Roman Catholic teaching (including, but not limited to, publicly supporting abortions, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, surrogate parenthood, direct sterilization or so-called homosexual or same-sex marriage or unions.”
Yet clergy who molested children for decades were moved from parish to parish to avoid shaming the church. So, by not dealing with it in the first place, many more innocent children were victimized by these same predators
This decision is either one very glaring oversight or one very brassy "we'll-show-them" moment by the Powers that be.
"So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?"
If the legislation passes (as it should), then LCA will need to comply with it.
Are there any instances where LCA has discriminated in the past? Based on my extensive experience with Catholic institutions, my hunch is "no".
Parishoners and parish leaders often disregard Diocese or Vatican policies whenever they find them to be inconvenient. For the most recent example, see Rick Santorum and Climate Change.
I see no problem with this decision for two reasons:
*As mentioned in the press release, this is the 10th anniversary of LCA. *The parade almost literally ends at LCA's doorstep.
Back before the merger when SS Cyril and Methodius was celebrating its 100th anniversary, we got to be grand marshal and Fr. Duke led the way. That was fun for us and our kids, who were attending school there at the time. To be honest, the best part was getting through the parade first on a wicked hot day. When SSCM closed, my son went to LCA for a couple years ... it was a good experience. I hope the kids have fun, it's really for them.