Outrage that the Catholic Church will only give to charities that uphold Church teachings!

This article recently appeared in the Huffington Post and, per the usual modus mundanarum of so many so-call journalists, the author of this hit piece misses the mark on a lot of serious Doctrinal and Dogmatic teachings.

I don't know who Pablo Eisenberg is but, by a quick look at his bio, it's obvious that he's a very learned man. It's a shame really, that such a worldly man could be so ignorant to the Church and her ways.

The first ideological fallacy is that Mr. Eisenberg considers there to be a conservative vs. non-conservative, or liberal, form of Catholicism. This, however, is not the case: to state it simply and as plainly as possible, Catholics either abide by the Church’s teaching authority invested to by Christ Himself, or not. Mr. Eisenberg went on to mention of the latest restriction to charities by stating that no monies will be given to organizations “not closely in line with official Catholic teachings.” Is this really a surprise? Honestly. If anything this should be proof positive of where the Catholic Church in the U.S.A. stands and where it draws the line, and that line begins where official Church doctrine and dogma begin.

In defense of Mr. Eisenberg, I have personally been one of the vocal many that have stopped giving to the USCCB’s annual CCHD drive precisely because of the groups that my and other faithful Catholic’s tithe went to. Just where was our donation going to? Here’s a brief list:

-          Somos un Pueblo Unido – supports contraceptive sex and “reproductive justice”

-          United Workers Association – this group joined a coalition that supports same-sex marriage

-          Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center – supports pro-abortion advocates National Organization for Women (NOW) who in turn supports pro-homosexual P-FLAG

-          Coalition LA – Produced a voter guide calling for a NO vote on Prop 22, which was a ban on same-sex marriage

And the list goes on. So why is it so unexpected that the Catholic faithful who fill the pews every Sunday  as well as the collection plate, why is it so out of the ordinary that they would protest such a blatant disregard for simple and fundamental Church teachings? I wonder if Mr. Eisenberg would be surprised if an Islamic mosque decided not to give monies to the Pig Farmers Association of America? Furthermore to insist that splinter groups, who support the anti-Church teaching groups, shouldn’t get any money is utterly preposterous. As smart as he is, Mr. Eisenberg fails to see that guilt by association, especially when one knowingly and willfully goes against dogma, MOST DEFINITELY is part of Catholic doctrine.

The most perfect of examples is the one Mr. Eisenberg uses himself, that of Compañeros. He mentions that it is a small nonprofit in Colorado that helps Hispanic immigrants, he also mentions that the money stopped flowing into Compañeros because they refused to not be affiliated with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, which advocates for homosexual marriage. According to Mr. Eisenberg, just because Compañeros is in partnership with CIRC, this is no reason for defunding them, unfortunately, he couldn’t be more wrong. A simple interwebz search to the CIRC website shows the soliciting donations for Compañeros. However, the language that they use if VERY telling. They use “first person” language in saying that they – not Compañeros – had to make the choice between funding and the coalition and that they - not Compañeros – sent “a clear message” to the CCHD.

Now how is it that the CIRC, an organization that had NOTHING to do with the CCHD, now has an official capacity to speak on behalf of Compañeros? The only way this is possible is if both of these organizations are one in the same or whoever wrote this donation solicitation tipped their hand a bit and let us know exactly why the CCHD was correct in negating their claim to funding. Speaking of funding, the Executive Director of Compañeros was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “I was shocked that our money was all of a sudden in jeopardy, and confused about why…” Notice how it was “their money.” Not money from the Church, nor money from the faithful but – almost automatically it’s “their money,” as if they had a right or entitlement to it! Not exactly the words I’d expect from a nonprofit whom were apparently (?) thankful for funding from the Church.

Mr. Eisenberg further exacerbates this issue by actually giving lip service to a “c"atholic dissident group who favors giving donations to nonprofits regardless of who they support. Additionally, Mr. Eisenberg quotes the head of this group and how he feels that it’s a “right-wing witch hunt” by the bishops and because of this, they are pushing immigrants “under the bus.” Eisenberg ends his post by stating:

“Tolerance for diverse perspectives and views is a hallmark of democracy and civil society. Guilt by association is antithetical to the American tradition. The sooner the conservative bishops realize this, the sooner the campaign can once again regain its luster and place of honor.”

I wonder if Mr. Eisenberg has tolerance for the bishop’s stance against the contraception mandate? Guilt by association may be antithetical to the American way but, when it comes to God, knowingly and willingly associating yourself with sin can cut you off from His grace. The sooner dissident Catholics and people like Mr. Eisenberg realize this, the sooner they’ll be able to merit the saving grace that so desperately wants to be part of their lives.