Music Director's Marriage Leads to his Firing

[AlphaFrog]

The last five months have been eventful for Steav Bates-Congdon.

First he got married. Then he got fired.

The popular music director at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in south Charlotte lost his job last month for marrying his longtime partner in New York, one of seven states to recognize same-sex marriages.

Under a recent Supreme Court ruling, the firing appears legal.

North Carolina doesn’t recognize same-sex unions. Voters will decide in May whether to add a constitutional ban.

The Catholic Church considers homosexual behavior a sin, and Bishop Peter Jugis, who heads the Diocese of Charlotte and is the spiritual leader of Catholics in a 46-county area, has been a strong supporter of legally restricting marriage to a man and a woman.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...#storylink=cpy

I have a few Facebook friends that are completely up in arms about this, saying how it's not fair, etc.

I can't figure out, though, how the music director figured that this WOULDN'T affect his position. If he'd been a Catholic musician for 30 years, should someone really have to take him aside and tell him that it was a "really bad idea"? The Catholic church has always been in direct opposition to gay marriage.

I also have to point out that this type of policy is not unique to gay marriage. I went to a Catholic high school, and it was well known that there were two different pairs of teachers that had been dating well over a decade, but couldn't get married because one in each pair had been divorced and couldn't get an annulment.

Some may find the action stupid, reprehensible, unfair, inequitable, etc, but I do have to say that I support the fact that the government is required to stay out of this issue and let people practice their religion as they see fit. I would be pissed if the government was allowed to come into my church and make policy. Let the Catholics deal with Catholic business and the fallout associated with it.


ETA: For the record, my personal religious views would not allow me to be ok with marrying a woman, but I support other's right to make that personal decision between themselves, God and their states/churches.

[DZsis&mom]

He was openly gay (his partner was even an active member of the cong), but he took it too far for the priest to look the other way.

Does he have the right to live an openly gay life? - YES
Does the Catholic Church have the right to not employ individuals who do not agree with their doctrine? - YES

He chose to work for an anti-gay religious organization. The supreme court has defended a religious organization's right. We must respect our government's separation of Church & State!

“The interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in a decision that was surprising in both its sweep and its unanimity. “But so, too, is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission.”