President Obama just signed an executive order banning anyone who contracts with the federal government from discriminating based on “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.” The order makes no exception for religious employers. The U.S. Bishops’ response didn’t mince words:
“Today’s executive order is unprecedented and extreme and should be opposed.”
The bishops’ statement was issued by Baltimore’s Archbishop Lori (Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty) and Buffalo’s Bishop Malone (Chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth). It goes on to expose the blatant contradiction inherent in Obama’s decree – that in the guise of banning discrimination, it actually is discrimination:
“In the name of forbidding discrimination, this order implements discrimination. With the stroke of a pen, it lends the economic power of the federal government to a deeply flawed understanding of human sexuality, to which faithful Catholics and many other people of faith will not assent. As a result, the order will exclude federal contractors precisely on the basis of their religious beliefs.”
Source: http://www.catholicvote.org/bishops-slam-unprecedented-and-extreme-attack-on-religious-freedom/