A triumph of common sense over political correctness – from CNA:

An Illinois judge’s July 12 order will allow Catholic Charities to continue its foster care work in three dioceses, despite an attempt by state officials and the governor to end the partnership.

“This is a great win for the 2,000 children under the care of Catholic Charities, protecting these kids from the grave disruption that the state’s reckless decision to terminate would have caused,” said Peter Breen, Executive Director and Legal Counsel at the Thomas More Society.

Breen said that Catholic Charities, with the legal assistance of his organization, “will continue this fight” to continue “the high-quality foster and adoption care that the Catholic Church has provided for over a century to Illinois children.”…

As you might have guessed it, liberalism is at the bottom of this – Illinois passed a law last December entitled Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act which, its sponsors said, would allow for civil unions but would not in any way, shape or form interfere with those faith-based groups which were doing charitable work in Illinois.  It was specifically asked, in legislative debate, if this bill would prohibit faith-based institutions from dealing with foster care and adoption – and the answer was “no”.  It was this assertion which may have allowed enough Illinois legislators to swallow “civil unions” – as long as people of faith are protected, who can have an argument against anyone – gay or straight – having a civil union?  Presto, the law was done.  But that was without anyone reckoning on the ultimate desire of leftwing activists…whether or not gay people shall be married, civil-union’d or shot to the Moon is irrelevant…what is relevant is whether or not faith can be attacked…especially the Catholic Church part of it.

Because the Catholic Church will not place a child in a gay or cohabitating home (so, you see, it isn’t about gays for the Church…it is about the Church’s adherence to Christian sexual morality), someone in the Illinois government – clearly with an anti-Christian axe to grind – decided to terminate Illinois’ contracts with Catholic Charities regarding adoption (any gay person with a gripe would be a person just being a jerk – plenty of adoption agencies in Illinois will adopt out to a gay couple…and even Catholic Charities would refer a gay person to such agencies should a gay person happen to wander in to a Catholic adoption agency).  Didn’t matter that Illinois doesn’t have the facilities to take on the thousands of kids under Catholic Charities’ care; doesn’t matter that the Illinois government has proven routinely incompetent in dealing with such social issues, didn’t matter that kids lives would be disrupted…all that mattered was bashing the Church, bashing Christianity, bashing morality.

Fortunately, a judge has seen right through this and put, at least temporarily, a stop to it.  Hopefully now some wiser heads will prevail and some sort of accommodation can be worked out so as to ensure that the kids are taken care of.  But this this what is so wrong about our society – liberal ideology has so infected is that even something as common-place as a Church caring for orphans has become politicized, and the realm of lawsuits.  There is a sickness in liberalism – some sort of disease of the spirit which generates such mean spirited actions.  This should never have happened – in any decent society, it wouldn’t have happened.  A small victory for common sense – but common sense should not have had to take the field of battle; it should have been automatic that no sane person would ever dream of challenging the care of orphans.