The Patriot Post® · Faith Under Siege

Like many states, Massachusetts is facing a crisis when it comes to placing children in foster homes.  Many children are forced to sleep in hospital hallways or state offices because the foster care system is so overwhelmed. 
 
So, kudos to Mike and Kitty Burke who stepped up to be foster parents in Massachusetts.  Mike is an Iraq war veteran and Kitty is a former paraprofessional for special needs children. 
 
But after going through a grueling process that included multiple home visits, the Burkes were stunned to find out that their foster care license was denied. 
 
Why?  Well, much of the interview process focused on their Catholic faith and involved questions about sexual orientation, marriage, and gender dysphoria.  Not surprisingly, this Catholic couple holds traditional Catholic beliefs. 
 
The state of Massachusetts rejected their application because, as one reviewer put it, “Their faith is not [LGBTQ] supportive and neither are they.” 
 
“We were absolutely devastated to learn that Massachusetts would rather children sleep in the hallways of hospitals than let us welcome children in need into our home,” the Burkes said in a statement.
 
This is yet another sad example of the decline and fall of America’s commitment to Judeo-Christian values. 
 
Not long ago, virtually every state had restrictions on open homosexuals adopting children or being involved in foster care programs.  There was a consensus in society that children should be raised by mothers and fathers.  There were also concerns about the risks of exposing children to “alternative lifestyles.”
 
Those restrictions began to fall as the LGBTQ movement gained strength, which it did largely because of clever arguments about “tolerance.”  And when the Supreme Court wrongly redefined marriage to include same-sex couples, any remaining restrictions were wiped out.
 
As I have repeatedly argued, no society is built on total neutrality or tolerance for all values.  Every society has decided that some values are good and noble, and it promotes those values, while it discourages other ideas.
 
So, here we are in 2023.  The all-in progressive state of Massachusetts is now declaring what values are good and bad, which values it will promote and discourage.
 
Massachusetts has decided that it is the Christian lifestyle and the Christian worldview that children must be protected from because that lifestyle and that worldview will lead to “debased and bad outcomes.”
 
By the way, some bureaucrats in Massachusetts want to put parents in jail if they refuse to affirm their child’s gender delusions.
 
And, of course, the same movement that made libertarian arguments based on love and tolerance, is now imposing a discriminatory intolerance to force Christianity into the closet that it successfully vacated.
 
Men and women of faith cannot be passive bystanders in America’s raging culture war.  The radical left has no tolerance for our values and it has no intention of letting us “live and let live.”