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Actually, We Know What Jesus Thinks Of Homosexual Acts (CCC, 2357-2359)

I saw another meme earlier. It said, "All I'm saying is, I think Jesus would bake the d--- cake." It's the perfect socially acceptable sentiment. It's also, to use a metaphor, bull excrement.

I would like to make two basic points: The Sacred Scriptures nowhere approve of homosexual acts, in either testament. That some try to marshal some texts to say otherwise is exactly why we have a Magisterium in holy Church. Second, the teaching in the Catechism harks back not only to revealed truth, but natural law. This means--no matter how fiercely one professes atheism or antipathy to organized religion--at some level, one cannot help but know that these things are wrong. So, in point of fact, this is a "religious debate" in only the most general sense. We could say that supernaturally revealed truth--presuming it exists--supplements something we're already supposed to know.

It's not my place to tell Christians bearing this unique cross what words to use in self-description, or why. In fact, Eve Tushnet, a Catholic writer who calls herself "gay," can offer you compelling reasons why one might still use such words while remaining committed to Church teaching on human sexuality. Others have a different view. That's a community discussion, as it were. My opinions and thoughts are offered as a member of a wider overlapping circle: those who defend and live what the Church teaches.

What of, "intrinsically disordered"? Isn't this provocative and hurtful language? Well, it could be hurtful, in two ways: 1. The person who hears it does not understand what is meant by its usage, and thereby imports a meaning it does not have, either objectively, or in this particular case; and 2. The person who hears it personalizes the words in a way that those using them do not intend.

What does it mean? Well, if we picture the entire created order including ourselves, and that God made all that we see, we could also surmise that every created thing has a purpose for which it's been designed. Human beings by their very nature are created to love and serve God, and remain in His friendship forever. "Intrinsically" means, "by its very nature." That which helps us love and serve God is ordered to that end. If we say something is "intrinsically disordered," that means that, by the very nature of what the thing is, it cannot be ordered to the proper end. Some acts are contrary to God's design because it's the wrong time or circumstance. Other things might be good in themselves, but they are done with the wrong motive, so they are bad acts. Intrinsically disordered acts are always wrong, even if they are done with good intentions. Or even if the circumstances are so tough or strange that a person wouldn't be fully responsible.

It's not my place also to say that homosexual acts are "icky" or strange, or that I can't imagine what all that would be like, though in that case, that's true. I don't think people who experience their sexuality this way are lepers, or bad people. In the sense that all sin is common, it's part of the human experience. Though it would be a mistake to say all sins have the same gravity, it is in fact true that we all come into this world with an unpayable debt, and it is foolish for a servant to elevate himself or herself above other servants, when the King stands ready to forgive us both. Forgive us, as we forgive our debtors.

Moreover, it could definitely be true that we need to "build a bridge" to the community of people who experience attractions to the same sex. This remains true, even if some notable clergy use the motive of outreach to curry favor with the watching world. In other words, it's possible to be right on this point, while not having the slightest clue about how to, or desire to actually build, a bridge.

On the other hand, even though "accompaniment" gets a bad rap as a kind of going soft on people in presenting the truth so they will like us, in real life, people don't understand everything all at once. Real accompaniment means walking with someone at their pace toward the truth and God's will. This is actually really hard, because you face the risk of losing sight of God's revealed will--as feared, identifying so much with sinners that you don't lead them toward the truth--or that other people think the particular struggles of your friends and neighbors aren't that hard, so they call you a false teacher or something, because people don't become conformed to God's will at the speed others deem necessary.

In the end, compassion is sharing another's suffering. I can't share in it, truly, by compounding it. Love is willing the good of another. I cannot will the good if I do not know it. And it cannot be the true good, if I determine it for myself. One thing we must all answer at some point: Am I experiencing the "judgment" of others because they lack love, or am I being accused by my own conscience? Am I running from the fragrance of the truth, and mistaking it as the fault of others?

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