http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/opinion_today_bishops_treating.html
This opinion is given great press by the Post Standard, probably because they consider it politically correct. But it contains an obvious logical disconnect. The illogical assumption that is that institutions, because they are such, can be somehow disassociated from the values of the persons who founded them and/or run them. That is patent nonsense. It is as misguided as the idea of the college out West that recently tried to force student groups to accept leaders who do not agree with the fundamental purposes of the group. It is preposterous for the same reason. Institutions such as Catholic hospitals and church-related colleges are extensions of the values of the persons who created them and who continue to run them, values that are inculcated in the DNA of the institution. If these values are an expression of a religious conviction, they fall directly under the First Amendment and are protected by it. In addition, when the hospital or college is connected to a religious group, the values of the institution cannot be separated from the values of the sponsoring group. The Bill of Rights is in place to protect the expression of religious faith whether by one person or a group of persons expressing themselves through an institution.
