Here's what Cardinal Dolan writes:
I am proud that my country and my church are both committed to the noble ideal of inclusion. Everyone should feel loved and respected. All people must share in all rights. We couldn’t dare to claim to be “one nation under God” if it were otherwise.I wonder how many of the bureaucrats and school administers assigned to monitor "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" ever give a moment's thought to the millions of people marginalized in our culture because they don't fit into the privileged pigeon-holes chosen by our progressive elites.
Yet society and the church are falling short of this noble ideal. By accepting one dominant cultural narrative that presumes to define those who are “excluded,” we are ignoring those who don’t tidily fit into the prevailing cultural story line. Want some examples?
• Moms and dads in lifelong, life-giving marriage, cherishing a large number of children, who are routinely ridiculed and regularly stereotyped as threatening to the planet.
• Fragile unborn babies, who have no legal protection in most states, with all of us forced to pay for the taking of their lives.
• Parents, especially struggling ones, who must pay constantly increasing taxes to support monopoly government schools and who are denied the right to use tax dollars to send their children to the schools of their choice.
• Citizens who for ethical reasons can’t obey the tidal wave of bureaucratic decrees on healthcare and are forced to choose between their consciences and their jobs.
• A gay person trying his best, with God’s grace, to live according to biblical teaching, who hears church leaders call that morality unjust and oppressive.
• Immigrants who came to this country eager to work in the belief that America was a sanctuary but who can’t get a labor permit and are treated with scorn.
• A woman who chooses to give birth to a baby while worried by hints and even outright threats that she’ll lose her job.
• Young people who are spiritually thirsty for a sense of awe, reverence and transcendence but who have difficulty finding a church to satisfy their needs.
• Relief agencies labeled as lawbreakers by members of Congress for welcoming, feeding and housing refugees.
• Our beloved elders near the end of life, who are coaxed into feeling useless, a burden, with euthanasia the answer.
• Folks who want only inspiration, encouragement and clear teaching from their pastors and religious leaders, but who instead must listen to dissent every Sabbath.
• Cops who face danger daily, who see their colleagues killed and wounded, their resources shrinking, and the criminals they apprehend released in an hour.
• Elderly people who are scared to take the bus or subway, or to walk down the block for milk and bread.
• Parents who worked two jobs and saved for decades to send their children to college, and struggled to pay back the loans they had to take, only to see their neighbors with weekend homes have their loans forgiven.
These good people tell us they are also marginalized and excluded. Rarely do I find them bitter, angry or judgmental. They, too, want a society that is inclusive—not merely for the groups now chic to defend, but for all.
