The Catholic Church found itself sitting squarely in the sights of the hour long leftist infomercial known as ABC Family's “The Fosters [1].” In last night’s episode, "Faith, Hope, Love," Mariana Foster (Cierra Ramirez) gets an invitation from her birth mother to be a Godmother to her infant half-sister. Get all that?
Mariana is super-excited about being a Godmother. But when she tells her moms that she herself must be baptized first, (she has two lesbian mothers who are her adoptive parents, for those of you just joining us) they’re mortified. Mariana tells them that her birth family said she would go to hell if she wasn’t baptized. Appalled at the idea that their adopted daughter would join the ranks of the evil, intolerant, gay-hating Catholics, and outraged that they would threaten confinement to Hades if she didn’t go along, they forbid her from joining the Church.
Which sets up this little exchange when the lesbian mothers go to Mariana’s birth family to confront them about overstepping their bounds with all this talk of their imaginary friend, God.
-Our church provides a sense of community and a sense of purpose. We just wanted to share that with Mariana. Is that so bad?-You told our daughter that she's going to hell.
-I never said that.
-Really? Okay, but if you're afraid that you won't meet her in heaven, what other option is there, Victor?
-If Mariana isn't baptized before she dies, her soul will be in limbo. And we don't want her to suffer, waiting for purification, before she joins God in heaven.
-We didn't mean to overstep.
–Mmm.
-Hey, um... My moms just want to talk about the baptism.
-We wouldn't be in this position if Ana had had her children baptized in the first place. It's something I really regret.
-We hear you, and we understand, Ana... But here's the thing. Jesus and Mariana are not your children. Or your grandchildren. You have a relationship with Mariana because we allow it. It's not your place to parent her.
-They're right. They're her parents. I'm sorry. I should've asked permission before any of this.
-Yes. Yes, you should have.
-Fine. You're right. Absolutely. But let me ask you something. You don't go to church, right?
-No, we don't.
-So, do you not believe in God?
-That's a fairly personal question, Elena.
-Okay. Then, tell me this. Is there any reason you don't want your children to believe in God?
The lady has a point. After all, if hetero parents can watch their kids grow to be homosexuals, in defiance of what they believe in and how they’ve lived their lives, then why can’t this lesbian couple allow their adopted daughter to go through her own spiritual journey, even if it conflicts with their worldview? In fact, so compelling was the birth family’s case, the Fosters even relented and let Mariana make up her own mind about what to do.
But of course, no way could a Fosters episode end with the lesbians being shown to be intolerant and the Catholic Church made to look like the pinnacle of love and inclusiveness. On the day of the baptism, Mariana has her sit-down with the priest, so she can make her baptism official. But it doesn’t go smoothly:
-Mariana, are you ready?-Um, yes. Father Pena, these are my moms.
-Lovely to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.
-Pleasure.
-Shall we? Now, I know you weren't raised in the church, but I'm happy to see that your reunion with your grandparents is—
-my birth grandparents.
-Oh, uh... Of course. Um... I'm happy to see that your reunion with your birth grandparents has ignited an interest in a spiritual connection. Normally, before we do this, there's quite a bit of instruction, but these are obviously very special circumstances. So, then I'll bring you up and introduce you as Mariana Gutierrez—
-no, no, no. "Adams-Foster."
-Right. I'm sorry. I knew that. I'm just getting everything wrong today, aren't I?
-It's fine.
-So, then, at the altar, you'll repeat after me, and recite the following oath before your congregation and God. "I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church "Believes, teaches, and proclaims, to be revealed by God."
-Is it a sin to say the oath and not believe it?
-Well, it is a sin to lie, but what don't you believe?
-Well, you met my moms. They're married. Would the church accept them?
-Of course. We welcome all sinners.
After this sit-down, Mariana decides there’s no way she could join a church that would look at her moms as sinners just because they’re married. The statement where the priest tells her “we welcome all sinners” is supposed to be the hateful line that drives Mariana away.
Yet, this highlights the critical difference between the Catholic Church and liberals. First of all, every religion, political movement, and belief system believes in sin. If you’re a Catholic, gay marriage is one sin. If you’re a liberal, the many sins are smoking, eating trans fats, not recycling, believing in traditional marriage, or refusing to say Bruce "Caitlyn" Jenner is a fox. Those are all sins. Catholicism is not the only belief system that believes in sinners. But they’re identical to liberals in that they see certain people as being sinners.
The enormous difference between the two is highlighted in the same sentence. Catholics love their enemies, love sinners. Please show me where liberals ever express love for their opponents. Did libs express love for the other side after the SCOTUS ruling on gay marriage, while they tweeted F-bombs to every conservative who used the hashtag #tcot? Were they being compassionate when they told Bristol Palin she should get an abortion? Were they being inclusive this past weekend, when they actually booed a Presidential candidate for saying that all lives matter [2]?
"The Fosters" set out last night to portray the Catholic Church as wildly intolerant. However, from what we see in the real world, it’s clear that the harshest and least inclusive religion in America is liberalism.