chrysostom Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 (edited) http://abbey-roads.blogspot.com/2014/05/venerable-nicolo-donofrio.html#comment-form FromTerry Nelson excellent blog: God sometimes uses attractive saints to attract us to himself. Attractive priests and nuns attract us to the Church as often as homely - yet holy - priests and nuns. Attraction is not a sin when it is ordered to God's glory. Attraction is normal. Friends are attracted to one another - especially in the beginning of friendship. We are attracted to others for all sorts of attributes. In our day we misinterpret our initial attractions and often sexualize them, or exploit them for our own interests. As we mature, we understand how superficial our initial attraction might have been, and we appreciate the gift of authentic friendship and its virtue much more deeply. I'm no longer content with the term same sex attraction because it confuses the meaning of friendship. I think it confuses simple attraction with lust. So-called SSA people may fail at chastity as much as the average gay person open to sexual activity. Bending over backwards to explain what SSA means seems unnecessarily complicated, and frankly, not all that convincing in many instances. Same sex friends have always been attracted to one another for one reason or another. Blessed Cardinal Newman was attracted to his friend Fr. Ambrose, but there is no evidence their friendship was any different from other men. See what I am trying to say? Same sex friendship is what exists between persons of the same sex - why confuse it? Thoughts? Is this perspective old hat or new hat? Edited May 26, 2014 by chrysostom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perigrina Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 We need to make an important distinction and we need terminology to express it. We need to talk about people who, in the words of the CCC, "experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex." We need a term to refer to the sex acts which take place between these people. The distinction is important because the attraction is not a sin while the sex act is. The people must be "accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity." The acts cannot be approved under any circumstances. Simply using the word "homosexual" causes a lot of confusion because it could mean either of these things. Using the term "same sex attraction" or "SSA" closely reflects the Catechisms phrase "exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex." While it might be more precise to say "eopsatpotss" I doubt it is practical. "SSA" is close enough, especially if we know what it supposed to mean. The author of the blog entry has not suggested an alternate term that allows us to discuss people with the attraction who make the choice to live in chastity. It almost sounds like he does not want to recognize the existence of such people. Unless those problems are addressed I will continue to use the term SSA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_nine Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 I hate the term SSA, not for the stated reasons, it's just clunky and seems like its trying too hard. I don't have solutions. Maybe a neat neologism? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo in Deum Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 I always think of Seattle Sexaholics Anonymous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mortify ii Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 How many euphemisms do we need to create? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 The Social Security Administration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_nine Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 How many euphemisms do we need to create? twenty-three thousand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo in Deum Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 The Social Security Administration? Thank God for the baby boomers taking that SSA bullet for the rest of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bus Station Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I always think of Seattle Sexaholics Anonymous. That sounds like a personal problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo in Deum Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 That sounds like a personal problem. Not anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidei Defensor Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I struggle with silly string addiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perigrina Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I hate the term SSA, not for the stated reasons, it's just clunky and seems like its trying too hard. I don't have solutions. Maybe a neat neologism? Clunky may be an advantage. The topic tends to bring a lot of strong emotion and we need to be calm and careful. Clunky language could be a sort of metaphorical speed bump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mortify ii Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Uranian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bus Station Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Not anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysostom Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 DERAILED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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