Pope Benedict and the Gay Inquisition
I am a big admirer of the current Pope, am glad he came to America, and hope he had a good time.
Nonetheless, it really is about time for a papal proclamation announcing that God is a bi gender twister. But since that is not going to happen anytime soon, it would be good if he just turned down the gay bashing a bit.
However, I tend to pay him no mind on this stuff. When the Pope preaches the sin of queerness, it carries the same theological weight as the edict against birth control—who cares? Not most Catholics.
Jesus talked about a lot of stuff, most of which people don't follow. But he never bothered to mention homosexuality one time. And in the Bible there are only four or five passages on the subject, and the bulk of those are stuck back there with the dietary laws, which also address the necessity of griding your loins and wearing ash sack cloth on certain holidays. As far as specifically condemning dykedom-- there is one ambiguous obscure passage.
The Pope admits, as he must, that a homosexual impulse is not a sin. It is only when the inclination is acted upon that there is a so-called sin. If that is as far as he went, I might disagree, but could accept it as a legitimate position.
But Benedict has turned the inclination into a "disorder" that requires constant pastoral monitoring to insure that it does not devolve into an immoral lifestyle:
"Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder. Pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living-out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not."
In other words, gays and lesbians are hopelessly flawed creations. God messed up.
Although this is already getting to be pretty unchristian, it is even worse when canon law is changed to affirmatively discriminate against persons who were born with this "disorder", even if it is checked.
That is what the new Vatican edict forbidding non-practicing homosexuals from entering a seminary does. Should a non-drinking person be excluded from the priesthood simply because he may be genetically predisposed to alcoholism?
This is not because most gay guys are pedophiles, it is because most pedophiles are men. In society, as a whole, most sex offenders are heterosexual men. If you don't believe me, or the studies, go down some day and look at the criminal docket in your local court.
As Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope many times made the argument that people who had homosexual inclinations were flawed individuals, deserving of Christian pity, charity and compassion, but who are forever morally crippled, and unequal.
And as both as the head honcho of what was formerly known as the Office of the Inquisition, and as Pope, he has led an internal Inquisition against ideas different than his on homosexuality, and purged theologians who dare bring them up.
Now I do not see the Catholic Church offering same sex marriages during my lifetime, if ever. And I think that is fine. Gay activists should not try to push religions to redefine their theological construct of marriage—it is none of their business.
Likewise, the Pope and his bishops should keep their nose out of the issue of civil unions and secular marital laws in the United States. It is none of their business. Besides the Church doesn't think civil marriages are real marriages anyway.
It is too bad that Pope Benedict, one of the world's greatest and most impressive advocates of human rights, when it comes to this issue, is crippled by the same type of blind eye, which he has so eloquently exposed in Islam, and Western moral relativism.
full article
Nonetheless, it really is about time for a papal proclamation announcing that God is a bi gender twister. But since that is not going to happen anytime soon, it would be good if he just turned down the gay bashing a bit.
However, I tend to pay him no mind on this stuff. When the Pope preaches the sin of queerness, it carries the same theological weight as the edict against birth control—who cares? Not most Catholics.
Jesus talked about a lot of stuff, most of which people don't follow. But he never bothered to mention homosexuality one time. And in the Bible there are only four or five passages on the subject, and the bulk of those are stuck back there with the dietary laws, which also address the necessity of griding your loins and wearing ash sack cloth on certain holidays. As far as specifically condemning dykedom-- there is one ambiguous obscure passage.
The Pope admits, as he must, that a homosexual impulse is not a sin. It is only when the inclination is acted upon that there is a so-called sin. If that is as far as he went, I might disagree, but could accept it as a legitimate position.
But Benedict has turned the inclination into a "disorder" that requires constant pastoral monitoring to insure that it does not devolve into an immoral lifestyle:
"Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder. Pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living-out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not."
In other words, gays and lesbians are hopelessly flawed creations. God messed up.
Although this is already getting to be pretty unchristian, it is even worse when canon law is changed to affirmatively discriminate against persons who were born with this "disorder", even if it is checked.
That is what the new Vatican edict forbidding non-practicing homosexuals from entering a seminary does. Should a non-drinking person be excluded from the priesthood simply because he may be genetically predisposed to alcoholism?
This is not because most gay guys are pedophiles, it is because most pedophiles are men. In society, as a whole, most sex offenders are heterosexual men. If you don't believe me, or the studies, go down some day and look at the criminal docket in your local court.
As Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope many times made the argument that people who had homosexual inclinations were flawed individuals, deserving of Christian pity, charity and compassion, but who are forever morally crippled, and unequal.
And as both as the head honcho of what was formerly known as the Office of the Inquisition, and as Pope, he has led an internal Inquisition against ideas different than his on homosexuality, and purged theologians who dare bring them up.
Now I do not see the Catholic Church offering same sex marriages during my lifetime, if ever. And I think that is fine. Gay activists should not try to push religions to redefine their theological construct of marriage—it is none of their business.
Likewise, the Pope and his bishops should keep their nose out of the issue of civil unions and secular marital laws in the United States. It is none of their business. Besides the Church doesn't think civil marriages are real marriages anyway.
It is too bad that Pope Benedict, one of the world's greatest and most impressive advocates of human rights, when it comes to this issue, is crippled by the same type of blind eye, which he has so eloquently exposed in Islam, and Western moral relativism.
full article
Comments
Mychal was considered a living saint by many even prior to his heroic death. His extraordinary works of compassion have been compared to Mother Teresa (see http://SaintMychalJudge.blogspot.com )
But ironically, Fr. Mychal Judge would be barred from the priesthood today because he was openly gay, though celibate. He often asked, “Is there so much love in the world that we can afford to discriminate against any kind of love ?!”
We have no illusions that this pope is going to change. But as gay Catholics, we affirm two truths -- that God created and loves us as gay people, and that the pope does not speak for the whole Church, the Ecclesia, on these matters.
Indeed, two-thirds of U.S. Catholics-in-the-pews reject the pope’s homophobic views and support either civil unions or full marriage rights, according to numerous surveys.
As Fr. Mychal also said, "Don't let the (institutional) church get in the way of your relationship with God."