If you want to know whether some Leftists are interested in helping people or forcing their beliefs on others, look at the fact that a Roman Catholic charity is no longer allowed to place children in foster homes. The charity's sin? They will not place children with same-sex couples.

I warned in a guest column in 2014 that same-sex marriage and religious liberty were on a collision course. We were already seeing that happen, and it has gotten worse since then. We will continue to see more encroachments on religious liberty, especially in social services.

In this case, the core issue is not religious liberty, but child welfare. The city of Philadelphia is more than willing to let children languish than allow a Catholic charity to assist in placing those children with families. The city could place children with same-sex couples themselves or contract with an additional charity and direct same-sex couples to that charity, but compromise is not an option here.

Put aside the question of whether or not you actually agree with Catholic doctrine on homosexuality. Are children really better off when a charity is forbidden from helping them unless that charity is willing to abandon its beliefs on sexual morality? For the city of Philadelphia, it does not matter. Child welfare is secondary to a Leftist political agenda. It is shameful.

The adoption agency fight grows from the same mentality that seeks to force Catholic charities to provide birth control (including abortifacients) to employees. If "tolerance" was the goal, then this would not be happening. But this is not and never was about the freedom for people to live as they choose. This is about mandatory acceptance and a mandatory endorsement of sexual behavior, and eliminating orthodox Christian doctrine from the public square. Always keep your eye on the real agenda.