Catholic League's Startling Statement re Adoption.

ROFLMAO, Crick, I have a hunch that Wolf won't be demanding an apology from the organization...but I guess we'll have to wait and see!Seriously, when I first heard about the Tweet, it threw me backwards in time, back to the 1950s and 1960s. I remember only too well how women who struggled with fertility issues were whispered about back then...and even ostracized by "polite society."I was telling my partner this morning about how in 1983 when I asked my grandmother why her sister, my great-aunt, never had children, she whispered, "I think your aunt was barren, but for god's sake, don't tell anybody." There was nobody else in the house that day, so why did she have to whisper to me? It was so obvious to me that infertility was all wrapped up in shame...and that is simply wrong on every level.Fast forward to the 21st Century in our great country. I really thought that the social disapproval of women who couldn't bear children was finally gone...and that's why I was so startled to hear the Catholic League's remark today.I'm not so sure that it's a great thing to be a woman in our country today. It seems to me like the powers-that-be are trying to once again put us in our places...barefoot and pregnant, with no jobs.

Shhh! Barren is a dirrrrrty bird word!;)It's really not a good time for women though, I completely agree. I like how Paige put it the other day "Pelvic Politics"...need to be over with. I do think though that in some people's eyes adoption will always mean "less than". It means I'm not a true real mom, you aren't a real mom, and an adoptee is "one of those".Sad we still have to fight all this, for our OWN.

Ok - so pardon me for coming off like a complete idiot, lol... Raven, what does that tweet mean? (I'm saying this with complete sincerity because it's not making sense to me). Is the second sentence supposed to be a passive aggressive slam from whomever wrote it against Rosen? It's just not "reading" right to me...

Love, if you put the search string "Catholic League adoption" into Google (without the quotation marks), you'll get back a whole bunch of hits about the bruhaha over the Catholic League's statement on Twitter. Even the Republican National Committee has distanced itself from the Catholic League today, stating that, “The Catholic League should be encouraging adoption, not demeaning the parents who are blessed to raise these children.”One of the first hits on Google is: [url=http://www.care2.com/causes/catholic-league-says-you-arent-a-real-parent-unless-you-give-birth.html]Catholic League Says You Aren't a Real Parent Unless You Give Birth | Care2 Causes[/url]. I haven't had time yet to read the other responses, but the statement seems to be causing a lot of turmoil.

Thanks, Raven. When I was reading the tweet, it was coming off in my head like a John Stewart punchline (except not funny). This is so very disappointing to me because the church (at least in my area) always encourages and celebrates adoption and this kind of tweet is dangerous on so many levels. What it feels like to me is a "you slam me, I'll find whatever I can to slam you back", and unfortunately, in doing so, the writer chose something that will ultimately anger and alienate a whole lot of people and shine another negative light on the Catholic church.

Yep. I posted on FB that I'm so tired of women dissing on each other. I get what Rosen was trying to say in disagreeing with Romney's comments but she did a horrible job of it and instead ended up attacking Ann, which wasn't cool. So here is the C.L. attacking a whole bunch of parents and going further to attack adoptees as well. It's disheartening.

I actually went on their website last night - there's a "Contact us" area where they ask people to inform them if they've witnessed any discriminatory behavior against Catholics, and I told them that I felt this was discriminatory against Catholics BY Catholics. I also expressed what you just said - that counterbalancing an attack with another attack just cheapens any point they're trying to make and makes them look bad... Makes me sad, frustrated and angry, just to name a few.

When I saw it on twitter yesterday I went to the Catholic League website to see if they "were" really a Catholic based organization - they are and based on their outspoken church views of BC and Abortion they should know better than to say anything of the sorts. Apparently the entire conversation that started this debacle was based on family economics and how Mitt states he talks to his wife to find out what it is like in the real world for a stay at home mom - which she is so not middle America or would know the economic challenges that come with only having one breadwinner in the family and no paid servants. I think everyone who hears a sound bite and wants to "sound off" needs to do their own research before mouthing off or slamming the sound off and opening mouth and inserting both feet. I did have to chuckle at the "OctoberBaby" tweet to @catholicleague - perhaps they too should have done their research before tweeting about their adoption movie during a firestorm on twitter from very angry adoptive parents and adoptees and stories in the media about this oops with a capital "O".

October Baby‏@OctoberBabyFilm

RT [URL="https://twitter.com/#!/CatholicLeague"] style=" color:rgb(106,180,151);"@CatholicLeague[/URL] Its limited opening was so successful that more theaters are picking it up this weekend. We urge all to see[URL="https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23OctoberBaby"] style=" color:rgb(106,180,151);"# style=" color:rgb(8,130,83);"OctoberBaby[/URL]

Kind regards,Dickons

What i heard was not a slam on people who adopt but simply pointing out that a lesbian can not naturally have a child. I think you should remember that Catholic Charities is a large organization that helps people adopt every day and just because one person made a statement against homosexuality is no reason to think that the Catholic Church is down on adoptive parents. Wouldn't it be nice if we all tried to put positive spins on things in life rather than looking for negativity. I know it is not PC to not be supportive of homosexuality but it is the Churches stance always has been and always will be, and why is it ok for people to think it is alright to be homosexual but not ok for people to believe it is not ok. And don't think I am slamming homosexuality, my mom is a lesbian and my oldest has a gay grandmother and grandfather on her dads side, I'm just saying really????

Kroos... Lesbians have exactly the same lady bits as hetrosexuals...it all works just the same. Dickons

Kim, I absolutely agree with you that one person's opinion doesn't necessarily dictate the church's position. I am a Catholic who adopted my kids from a Catholic agency. My church and those in the surrounding area really do support adoptive parents and children and have never made any comments that made any of us feel "less than". My personal "issue" with it is that even though it's one person's statement/slam (what have you) they were doing so from a twitter account that represents the Catholic League so the connection between the comment and the League is automatically there, and therefore adds more fuel to the fire because from there, the line will ultimately connect (for many) to Catholics in general. My frustration comes from the irresponsible comment from a person which will ultimately lead others to believe that this is the opinion of the church as a whole.

Ummm, the last time I looked, lesbians are fully capable of bearing biological children. Seriously, many lesbians create their families through artificial insemination. It's not all that difficult to obtain donor sperm...women have been going that route for many years now. Also, in response to your remark about Catholic Charities, the Catholic League is an entirely different organization. The statement I started this thread about was NOT issued by Catholic Charities; it was issued by the Catholic League for Religious Issues and Social Rights, an organization headed up by a homophobic guy who detests gays and lesbians.

I am a Catholic. I don't like a lot of the things the Catholic League say. Please, Catholic League! Stop speaking for Catholics! Your rhetoric is not very Christ-like in my opinion.

I am not trying to offend anyone just wanted to point out that the statement of one does not the Church make. There are many Catholic organizations that are there to help. I hate when one person makes a statement and then people blame the "Catholics" or the "Jewish" or any other religious organizations. It is true that the Catholic church does not approve of homosexual acts and obviously we all know that lesbians can have babies (ummm my mom is a lesbian and I'm here) but an active lesbian is not going to have a child naturally, thats all I was saying. I know lesbians can have children I have friends who have 3 children of their own as a lesbian couple who used sperm donors. People shouldn't be so sensitive, that's all I was trying to say. People say things that are taken out of context and most of the time I think people get offended not for themselves but in defense of others who don't need help being defended and they usually aren't half as offended as people assume they might be. Just saying let's stop being over sensitive about everything that is said!!

Kroos, I don't see anybody here on this thread who is blaming the official Roman Catholic Church. I have been very clear in that it was the head of the Catholic League for Religious Issues and Social Rights. You were the one who brought up Catholic Charities, when CC didn't have anything to do with the statement. It was Bill Donohue of the Catholic League who made the disparaging remarks on Twitter. I just wish the Catholic organizations would use more discretion when they address the general public, especially on the Internet. They're coming across very hypocritically, IMHO, when they try to sway voters over to the GOP. Jeez, you'd think they'd be busy trying to come up with some money for the dioceses that have declared bankruptcy due to allowing priests to continue pastoral work after molesting children in past years. All I've been hearing lately from Catholic leaders in the current political campaign is anti-contraception and anti-choice positions...which would be fine if they upheld the other important things that the Vatican has weighed in on, such as abolishing capital punishment and reigning in the robber barons in our capitalistic society.