Theological Question On Homosexuality

[jazzytakara]

This link was posted on the 'Open Mic' thread:

http://www.matthewvines.com/transcript

And I was reading though it, and the speaker is basically saying that the Bible was against lust based homosexual relations rahther loving and committed relationships. It doesn't really address Jesus's definition of marriage, but looks at what St. Paul wrote on unnatural and lust based relationships and the Old Testament (the usual argument that when Jesus was sacrificed the laws of the Old Testament were broken). This has often been an issue for me, as I grew up supporting equal marriage rights and have close friends and familiy members who are homosexual. And I have struggled with the biblical teaching and wanting love for those close people in my life. I was just wondering if someone could explain homosexuality, in regards to scripture, tradition, wanting love for a homosexual relative, and what this posted link states. Thank you

[CatherineM]

[size=4]I'm just going to repost something I've posted before on the subject because I'm too busy to come up with something new.[/size]

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[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"]I sometimes think that the biggest misunderstanding the general public has about the Catholic Church is about our teachings regarding those with Same Sex Attraction. You will hear many of us use the term Same Sex Attraction or SSA rather than homosexual or gay or lesbian. This is because we don’t like to pigeonhole people into those labels. Whether you believe that those with SSA are born that way, or are made that way later, they do not lose their humanity and are still men and women. We are all given crosses, and those who struggle with SSA are given truly heavy crosses. The idea that the Catholic Church discriminates or hates those with SSA is just ludicrous. [/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"]The Church teaches that all humans should be treated with dignity. We are each a unique gift from God. Every person is welcome in the Catholic Church with open arms. We are not a temple of saints, but a hospital for sinners. I have never seen a person turned away at the door. There is a difference however from being welcomed to mass, and being allowed to participate in our communion. We are not turned away from the communion rail by the Church, but by ourselves, and our actions. As many know, my mom wasn’t Catholic, yet she went to mass every Sunday. She didn’t receive communion, and neither did my father because he was divorced and refused to go through the annulment process. It was his choice to separate himself from communion, but he was never turned away from the door. He was never told he wasn’t welcome. On the contrary, our pastors lobbied him constantly to get his affairs straightened out. [/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] As a mom, I know exactly the mistakes my kids are going to make, but am helpless to prevent them from stubbing their toes. That doesn’t mean we don’t try to explain to them how to avoid making those mistakes. It also doesn’t mean we turn our backs on them when they do fall down. Those are the times we most want to hold them close to us.[/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] So what do my parents have to do with the issue of gay marriage? It’s about the fact that the Church doesn’t care who we are, because we are all of equal human dignity, but the Church does care about our actions. [/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] I was watching a show the other night about a very early Hominid called Ardipithecus. He lived 4-5 million years ago. What is most interesting about him is that he is one of the earliest human ancestors found thus far, and he walked upright. We used to think that we grew large brains and then started to walk upright. It was the other way around. Once we had our hands free, we began to use them, and developed bigger brains. One of the things they have been able to garner from the bones and surrounding social aspects is that Ardi was monogamous. Being able to walk upright and carry food long distances, allowed him to provide for a mate and have more children. So walking upright, led to making a traditional family, and it also led to the development of larger brains, and eventually to fully human intelligence. Even 6 million years ago our distance ancestors understood that you build a society around the nuclear family.[/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] This idea of marriage, a husband and a wife and their children, isn’t a Christian one. It pre-dates all recorded history. Fighting over women has historically caused so much strife in communities, that marriage was a way to maintain peace in the tribe. The Catholic Church hardly invented the idea that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. The Church did recognize that marriage is such an important part of our civilization that entering into a marriage bond is a sacramental contract. Marriage is so important to us, that we defend it vigorously, even when that defense is seen as a hate crime in some jurisdictions.[/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] We are opposed to the legalization of gay marriage because we truthfully believe that the legal recognition of a relationship that does damage to the two individuals involved and harms society is a really bad idea. We are not in favor of denying anyone their rights. Everyone presently has the right to marry in the same way that we have for centuries. I have the right as a woman to marry a man. Every woman, even those with same sex attraction, has the same right, that is to marry a man. My husband had the right to marry a woman, just as every other man has the right to marry a woman, even men who deem themselves to be gay. Preventing a woman from marrying another woman is not denying either of them any rights. It is recognizing that they are not capable of making a real marriage. Allowing them to marry would not be recognizing their rights, but rather would be giving them a new right that has never been recognized before.[/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] So, we are looked on as discriminatory. We are seen as wanting to keep two consenting, loving adults apart. That makes us the bad guys. I prefer to think of it as being the boy who has the bravery to tell the Emperor that he isn’t wearing clothes. There are lots of relationships that we deem to be against “Natural Law.” That’s a philosophical term for the knowledge that God has placed inside us about basic right and wrong. For example, we “know” that siblings should not marry. There are those who believe that should be allowed since they are both consenting adults who love each other. There are those who are lobbying for the right to recognize relationships between adults and adolescents or even younger children. People scoff at that ever being allowed, but my father would have scoffed at the idea that same sex marriage would ever be legalized. [/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] Our faith calls us all to chastity. Single, married, widowed, divorced, we are all called to practice chastity. Sex is the most powerful gift that God has given us. The heat of it can burn us if we don’t shield ourselves with chastity. I know that can seem confusing because we often think that chastity means celibacy. It doesn’t. Each person is called to a chastity reflective of their station in life. A sacramental marriage is one that includes freedom, fidelity, insolubility, and fruitfulness. A same sex couple may pledge to be faithful to each other until death, but their marriage can never be fruitful. It can never be open to life. [/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] The next big argument we deal with is that we are discriminating against people who were born with same sex attraction, in other words, as God made them. I am no expert on God’s will. There are lots of things in life that aren’t fair. I always wanted to be a gymnast, but I was over 5 feet tall by second grade with enormous feet, so God in his infinite wisdom did not want me to swing on uneven parallel bars. I found acceptance with his decision, and switched to basketball. Those with same sex attraction have a choice as well. They can let it rule their lives, or they can find acceptance and learn to make proper relationships. There are those who say that means we are sentencing people to a life of no sex. We aren’t. They can always marry someone of the opposite sex. There are many people who live full lives without sex, and I’m not just talking about priests and nuns. There are those who have been born with genital defects. There are those who lose sexual functioning due to illness, accident, age or medications. [/font][/size]
[size=4][font="Arial","sans-serif"] We aren’t responsible for the way we are born, or the things that happen to us in life, but we are responsible for the way we respond to those things. We are responsible for our choices and actions in life. If we truly love and care about our neighbors, we can’t pretend that bad choices aren’t harmful to them. I worked with many homosexual clients over the years. I can truthfully say I never met a practicing homosexual who was truly happy, healthy, and whole. Why would I want to aid people to continue down a path that is harmful to them? A good parent or friend knows that there are times when we have to say no. [/font]I love them enough to tell them the truth. [/size]
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