According to the court’s rules, the Mass. Supreme Court must make a ruling by today on the gay marriage case. I’ll keep an eye out and let you know when it happens. I’m not hopeful of the right thing being done.
According to the court’s rules, the Mass. Supreme Court must make a ruling by today on the gay marriage case. I’ll keep an eye out and let you know when it happens. I’m not hopeful of the right thing being done.
Craig,
Nice descent into the oldest rhetorical trick for shutting people up: You’re so vocal against it, you must be one of them. That’s a load of crap.
Look, the Church has been definitive on this: a homosexual orientation is intrinsically disordered and homosexual activity is gravefully sinful. Rather than trying to justify why you disagree with the Church—which if you’re a Catholic you believe speaks with the authority of the Holy Spirit on matters of morality—maybe you should try to spend some time tryign to understand why the Church teaches what she does.
You say that some alleged study shows that people who complain about homosexuality are most likely to have latent tendencies (Why don’t you just go me a homo and be done with it?).
Well, what about people who talk about it all the time and only that? Yeah, the ad hominem attack cuts both ways.
The Catechism, which is the authoritative expression of the Church’s teaching: paragraphs 2357-2359.
The Bible: Romans 1:24-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:10.
Look it up.
Yes, I’m sure it’s very conclusive. Care to “show me where it says” it? Can you cite it or are you just talking out of the side of your mouth?
Gee, Craig, I didn’t know you have a degree in theology.
Romans says what it says; your speculation has no basis in fact. As for Timothy, I don’t know what translation you were using but mine says: “immoral persons, sodomites, kidnappers, perjurers, liars, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.” Again, very clear.
And you completely ignore the Catechism. Finally, no matter your claim otherwise, if you refuse to acknowledge the authority of the bishops, who are the successors of the apostles, you cease to be Catholic and become a Protestant.
A man who rejects the Pope appoints himself his own pope. And the old saying that a man who represents himself in court has a fool for a lawyer goes for any man who wants to be his own bishop and pope.
The Bible admonishes me not to kill in a few verses, but then God tells his people to kill many more times. What should I do? How can I interpret the Bible correctly? Perhaps, by listening to those placed in authority by God to interpret Scripture authoritatively.
I think, Craig, that your own biases tell you that Scripture and Church teaching are not consistent and definitive and you’d prefer to listen to them over what God has said.
High school religion class is no more a theology degree than high school English class makes you Shakespeare.
In current language, sodomite can refer to heterosexual couples, but the Greek word used by Paul narrowly refers to homosexuality.
Oh, and the Catechism is the authoritative statement of the Church’s Tradition. Perhaps in your four years of religion class, you were taught that Catholic don’t find the Word of God in Scripture alone, but also in the verbal instruction of Christ to the Apostles as handed down through their successors and safeguarded by the Holy Spirit. The Catechism is an expression of that verbal Tradition.
“I am fully aware of what scripture says but then again, many of the priests are not even followign the instructions of Christ.”
That’s the point: they’re not following the instructions of Christ. At least we recognize that Christ left instructions and they’re not being followed. But by your reasoning, because police officers sometimes break the law, we should just ignore the law.
“I think Christ is much more light hearted than many people believe. He is very merciful and I for one do not believe he has issues with homosexuality. I think by not living and experiencing and celebrating diversity, one is only closing his or her eyes to what was created for us to experience.”
Have you talked with Jesus? I’m not being facetious. I’m just trying to figure out how you think you know what Jesus would say about homosexuality. You obviously aren’t getting from the Bible since it’s very clear about homosexuality, and you’re not getting it from the Church, since the Church says the same thing. Are you pulling it out of thin air based on what you think you want Jesus to say?
God has given us commandments to avoid certain immoral behavior, not because he’s a killjoy, but because he knows that such behaviors are deadly to our souls, and especially to our relationship with him. I don’t have the time or space to go into detail about why homosexuality is deadly to our souls, but I suggest you try to find some books or articles (or at least the Catechism) on this subject that support the Church’s teachings so that at least you can say you considered both sides of the argument before choosing to believe what you do.
The tendency to be attracted to the same sex is no more a mortal sin than is the tendency to alcoholism. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognize it as a disorder and that the afflicted should not give in to the disorder.
A homosexual orientation is a disorder (not to be mbraced, but treated), while homosexual acts are sin.
Besides, no one has yet proved that homosexuality is something you’re born with. The one study from years ago that everyone still cites was disproven not long after it was published.
Who would go through life addicted to heroin? People choose self-destructive behaviors all the time, thinking they are good for them at first.
And homosexuality is destructive, not only spiritually, but also personally. I had a friend in college who was a recovering homosexual who told me about the self-destructive behavior he saw in himself and in every other homosexual he met. Every single one.