Equating laws allowing same sex couples to get married and women to make reproductive choices for themselves with a “state religion,” the head of the Chicago Catholic diocese said the U.S. government is no different than countries imposing Sharia law on their citizens, reports Right Wing Watch.

In a column written for Catholic World News, Cardinal Francis George, Head of the Archdiocese of Chicago, writes that Christians and Jews who refuse to worship the “false God” of the state are treated like “second-class citizens.”

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Noting that both the legal and cultural landscape in America has changed, Cardinal George states that the “ruling class” is forcing it’s own morality on Americans of faith.

“The “ruling class,” those who shape public opinion in politics, in education, in communications, in entertainment, is using the civil law to impose its own form of morality on everyone, ” he writes. ” We are told that, even in marriage itself, there is no difference between men and women, although nature and our very bodies clearly evidence that men and women are not interchangeable at will in forming a family. Nevertheless, those who do not conform to the official religion, we are warned, place their citizenship in danger.”

Cardinal George worries that having views more in line with traditional Catholic teaching may limit Catholics ability to influence policy and popular culture.

“Swimming against the tide means limiting one’s access to positions of prestige and power in society,” he explained.” It means that those who choose to live by the Catholic faith will not be welcomed as political candidates to national office, will not sit on editorial boards of major newspapers, will not be at home on most university faculties, will not have successful careers as actors and entertainers.”

Addressing the implementation of the Affordable Care act without noting the religious exemption offered by the government, George concludes, ” It already means in some States that those who run businesses must conform their activities to the official religion or be fined, as Christians and Jews are fined for their religion in countries governed by Sharia law.”

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[Cardinal Francis George picture via Chicago Catholic Diocese website]