Washington state Democrats are singling out religious leaders in a law they claim is upholding the separation between church and state. In reality, it is the imposition of the state on the church, singling out religion as the focus of the law.
The new law that has been signed by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson adds members of the clergy to the state’s list of mandated reporters of child abuse. That itself is not a big deal, but the law went further than other states by requiring members of the clergy to divulge information learned during the sacrament of Reconciliation. Catholic priests are not allowed to reveal anything shared with them in confession under threat of excommunication, as the seal of confession is crucial to the sacrament itself.
Washington state Democrats consider this a loophole, and so they moved to close it. State Sen. Noel Frame, the sponsor of the bill, said that “this bill is about the separation of church and state” and that it “is about the state’s secular responsibility to the public interest of protecting children.”
And yet, under the section of the law regarding who is obligated to report child abuse and when, there is a specific carveout for everyone except members of the clergy. The law reads: “Except for members of the clergy, no one shall be required to report under this section when he or she obtains the information solely as a result of a privileged communication.”
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According to Washington law, privileged communications include spousal privilege, which protects confidential communication between spouses, and attorney-client privilege, which protects confidential communication between attorneys and their clients. Peer supporters, “sexual assault advocates,” mental health counselors, and marriage and family therapists all have “privileged communications” protected under Washington state law. Weirdly enough, this “secular responsibility to the public interest” skips over all of them and goes straight to requiring members of the clergy to violate their religious obligations and break the confessional seal.
Leaving intact all of these privileged secular communications while singling out religion makes it clear that this is about putting the faith in its place under the service of state Democrats. This is not the separation of church and state. It is the subordination of the church to the whims of the state.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
