Matt Kennedy+: Claiming Catholicity, Rationalizing Confiscation

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The...position seems to be that the state, as a matter of protecting the free exercise of religion, must act as the coercive arm of the Church, enforcing the confiscation of properties to which the Church lays claim (regardless of deed and title). And, moreover, the state’s failure to do so constitutes a violation of the constitutional “rights” of the Church. Just how far might such a principle be carried? If a hierarchical Church can rightly claim the property of a local congregation (without deed or title) with the state’s coercive support and if denial of that support constitutes a denial of the constitutional rights of the Church, what else can the church claim? the rest