Candy might be surprised to find what the Catholic Church teaches about homosexuality. From the catechism.
2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,140 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."141 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.
2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.
Letter to the Bishops on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.
10. It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs. It reveals a kind of disregard for others which endangers the most fundamental principles of a healthy society. The intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action and in law.
4 comments:
I'm a former Catholic (now UU), but I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate your site. I stumbled upon Candy's site when I was looking for homekeeping tips and have found myself drawn back there time and again out of sheer amazement at the horrible things she manages to get away with saying. Although I'm no longer Catholic, my family still is and I have a great respect for the Church and particularly its teachings on love of all humans, peace, and charity.
Although I disagree with you (and the Church) on the sinfulness of homosexuality, I respect your approach of showing love and compassion for all people. Candy's post today and the comments that followed it were horrifying to me, but your discussion of the Catholic Church's teachings in this area reminded me that there's a much better way for those who do believe that homosexuality is a sin to address the issue.
A rally to support a woman that has stated that gay people are worse than terrorists doesn't show love for homosexuals and hatred of the sin; rather, it perpetuates the kind of bigotry and fear that led Matthew Shepard and others like him to be so savagely brutalized. The Church appears to be taking an approach which, although I disagree with it immensely, at least won't cause gay people to be attacked and shamed for their orientation.
Sorry if that was long-winded, and again, thank you for this site and the reminder that Christians aren't actually hateful and intolerant, despite the things that Candy spews on a daily basis.
I'm glad that you take the time to point out areas of agreement as well as areas of disagreement. I wish Candy could take a leaf out of your book in that respect.
My wife and I have had many "dealings" with Candy in the past, I must say that I dig this site for its refusal to remain censored by candy, though this has been tagged a gossip site[sometimes in past comment sections maybe], I think its a healthy thing to be able to actually read both sides of an issue, this one being Catholicism.
We gave up trying to tell people about the obvious problems of that site because people are gonna believe what they want to, especially when the things we pointed out would conviently get deleted or edited.
That said let me say a few words here about the topic. We hold to the same beliefs and approach as do Catholics on this issue. While other Emergent Minded folks think differently, we hold to the belief that it is a sin but it is not something that should cause a person to be treated as a second class citzen.
posted some thoughts on this here
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