The bishops of the Catholic Church have decided that Catholic Charities must get out of the adoption business because they can’t tolerate government regulations that prohibit their intolerance of gay couples who want to adopt. They say that their freedom of religion is being violated if they can’t use government money in a discriminatory manner. It’s all right for them to take tax money collected from gay people. They have no problem with the taking part. Their only problem is in the giving. They just think that their rights are being trampled upon if they can’t exclude gay people from getting back any benefits from that money. That’s their idea of religious freedom. What we have here is a perfect example of the consequences of recent encroachments by the government on the clear prohibition in the First Amendment against establishment of religion. We’ve been sold a bill of goods by the right wing that it’s not a violation of the constitution to give money to religious organizations for charitable or educational purposes. This little stunt by the bishops demonstrates the result when you push over the line. We should simply not be giving any money to any religious organization, regardless of their so-called charitable or educational purposes. Religious organizations can’t help themselves.  By their nature, all religions are prejudiced. They will move heaven and earth to discriminate in favor of their dogma. The Catholic Church, of all entities in the world, ought to have a handle on the proposition that the taking and giving of money comes with strings. Strings on financial transactions is what they have been doing since they got into the religion business two thousand years ago. They are the masters and they have plenty of money. If they want to discriminate in their adoption services, they should use their money and not be taking money from tax payers who don’t like their discriminatory policies and should have to fund their prejudices. But putting up their own money for adoptions is apparently not their idea of a good investment. Quite frankly, I think we’re all better off with these medieval, pedophilia-pandering bishops out of the adoption business.