Hardline Catholics: Just Because You Gays Can't 'Marry' Doesn't Mean We Should Have to Pay Taxes!

San Francisco and Catholics just ain't gettin' along these days (if they ever did). We recently wrote about the Catholic Right urging believers nationwide to tell Mayor Gavin Newsom he's responsible for the recent graffiti on Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro because Newsom permits naked men to run amok at the Folsom Street Fair.

Now some hardliners are saying San Francisco is not only offending their sensibilities, but their pocketbook -- since the city assessor wants to bill the Archdiocese for up to $15 million in property transfer taxes. The fervent Catholics are even hypothesizing as to why. An article went up on the pro-life Web site LifeSiteNews.com titled "San Francisco Set to Tax Catholic Church Millions in Suspected Prop. 8 Retaliation." In it, Randy Thomasson of Campaign for Children and Families said the tax claim was "fishy at the least and evil at the most" and that San Francisco county recorder-assessor Phil Ting "who went head to head with the Catholic Church over marriage between a man and a woman...is aiming his rifles...right at the Catholic Church...." Jack Smith of the Catholic Key blog said that Ting, "who's rumored to want the Mayor's chair after Newsom, is pandering to the anti-Catholic sentiment of voters in San Francisco."

I think we can say with some certainty that LifeSiteNews.com is not guilty of pandering to the sentiments of San Franciscans. Actually, their Onion-worthy headlines would pander more to the humor of San Franciscans if only the influence of folks like them didn't just take away a good percentage of local citizens' right to marry. Among the site's most-read stories of the week is one with the headline, "Wisconsin High School Features In-Depth Homosexual Indoctrination Regimen." Check out the ominous: "Mother Told that Daughter Will Be Taken from Her by Force for Visits with Lesbian."

In the article regarding the San Francisco Archdiocese's tax woes, the reporter even brackets the term "marriage" -- in reference to same-sex marriage -- in quotes of disdain. Surely some gay couples will be wondering about why they have to pay "taxes," too, to a government that won't even give them equal protection under the law. Maybe they should take a cue from the Archdiocese and simply complain the law doesn't apply to them.