Have you ever wondered just how same-sex marriage restricts or harms religious freedom? Washington State’s four Catholic bishops may claim to abhor ‘bias’ towards LGBT people, but they are still pushing their congregations to vote against same-sex marriage through a pastoral statement calling Referendum 74 a threat to religious liberty.

The bishops claim that the passage of Referendum 74 would make them objects of discrimination and claimed that:.

“The legal separation of marriage from procreation would have a chilling effect on religious liberty and the right of conscience. Once marriage is redefined as a genderless contract, it will become legally discriminatory for public and private institutions such as schools to promote the unique value of children being raised by their biological mothers and fathers.

“No institution or individual could propose that married mothers and fathers provide a singular benefit to children without being accused of discrimination. Recent attacks on churches, businesses and nonprofit organizations that express their conscientious objection to the redefinition of marriage underscore the danger.”

Of course, the fact that many of the bigots out there spew anger and hatred against LGBT people and cause anger in return does not seem to matter to Archbishop Peter Sartain, Bishops Blaise Cupich and Joseph Tyson, and auxiliary bishop Eusebio Elizando. What may be more at the hart of this is the fact that not all of the 800,000 Catholics under their religious tutelage are bleating along behind them. Governor Chris Gregoire and State Senator Ed Murray are both Catholics, and both support same-sex marriage.

And while Sartain may have asked parishes to collect signatures to get Referendum 74 on the ballot, many parishes refused to do so.

Still, Bishop Tyson is planning on shaming his congregants into donating to the anti-marriage campaign by distributing and collecting envelopes for donations in all of the 41 parishes under his control.

The Catholic bishops also wrote that:

“Marriage is founded on sexual difference and ordered toward the fulfillment of husband and wife and the procreation and rearing of children. This basic understanding of marriage and family is ‘built in’ to the very nature of man and woman.”

“By separating marriage from procreation and the responsibility of men and women to raise children that result from their sexual union, the new marriage law would abandon the state’s principal interest in this time-honored institution,” they wrote.

“If the state successfully disconnects marriage from the potential inherent to sexual union between a man and a woman, the civil meaning of marriage will be lost, and the institution that results will be a genderless contract without reference to children.

“The foundational nature of marriage for the good and the strength of human society will be harmed beyond repair.”

Basically, their entire argument is based upon the old ideas that women were chattel and bound to the home. Not only is their position anti-same-sex marriage, but it is also anti-marital equality and anti-woman.

To date, several of the biggest names in Washington State are supporting Referendum 74 including Microsoft, Starbucks, Nike, Vulcan, Google, Alcoa and Expida. All together, supporters of same-sex marriage have about $5million in TV air time reserved while the anti-74 groups have less than half a million.