I just read a really long piece from a Catholic guy who's same-sex attracted. "Gay," if you like. He was faithful. He lived in a great community. He was ashamed and afraid for a while. But when he was honest, it seems like he faced less hostility than he figured. Well, yeah. True Catholicism is love for literally everyone. Few practice it, but it's true. I can't claim success in that practice, but I do try. With God's power, I will succeed. Anyway, this guy believed in the Church's teaching, so he tried every celibate path known to mankind. I believe him. I can also believe it's terribly hard.
It's also true that he just gave up.
And there is a cottage industry of people not only ready to celebrate that, but ready to place the blame on orthodox faithful, who simply believe what the Church teaches on faith and morals. If you ask, "Is it really true that God said..." the answer is likely "Yes."
We don't follow the Church's teaching because we're fearful of those who don't, or how they live. We follow the Church's teaching on faith and morals because it is revealed by God, either in nature, or revealed supernaturally. If something about human beings and how they should live is revealed by God, it must be true. God cannot deceive, or be deceived. In all the chatter about inflexible people and their old traditions, they forget God. There could be a debate about whether a particular thing is revealed by God, but the Church can both discern that, and make it clear. The Church was founded by Christ Our Lord, and he can't deceive, or be deceived, either. He's God.
Some people say that the Holy Spirit blows in new ways and directions, but the Holy Spirit is also God. So either God contradicts Himself, or people are wrong. It also strikes me as especially convenient that people find these new interpretations where sex is involved.
Most of the time, I just wish people had the brass to say, "It's too hard; I'm giving up, and doing something else."
Outside this particular issue, someone was telling a story of someone they know who's "been together" with his girlfriend 5 years. To be plain about it, I got tired of the lack of clarity, and I said, "There is no 'together.' You're either married, or not married." My friend said, "That's a narrow-minded view." I replied, "Yeah, yeah, it is. You know what else is narrow? The way to Heaven."
Don't get me wrong; I understand weakness better than most people. If there weren't an authentic "gradualism," I'd have been tossed out of the Church on day 2. Bottom line, though: We're either made for God, or religion actually is "the opiate of the masses." If we choose the latter, there's no point in hectoring people about being more like Jesus, because Jesus would be a fiction, a figure for the imagination. Other people choose the former, but they are so fond of the pleasure of approval, they think somehow that they will avoid the hostility heaped on Jesus and His followers. Let me know how that works out.
I can remember the next leader of the free world saying that marriage involves a man, and a woman. 10 years ago. In fact, he said it was revealed by God, and that as a result, he didn't have the right to believe otherwise. Either the entire world has been composed of hapless bigots in every time and place, or people are making things up. I think people yell, "Love is love!" because they know it isn't.
It's also true that he just gave up.
And there is a cottage industry of people not only ready to celebrate that, but ready to place the blame on orthodox faithful, who simply believe what the Church teaches on faith and morals. If you ask, "Is it really true that God said..." the answer is likely "Yes."
We don't follow the Church's teaching because we're fearful of those who don't, or how they live. We follow the Church's teaching on faith and morals because it is revealed by God, either in nature, or revealed supernaturally. If something about human beings and how they should live is revealed by God, it must be true. God cannot deceive, or be deceived. In all the chatter about inflexible people and their old traditions, they forget God. There could be a debate about whether a particular thing is revealed by God, but the Church can both discern that, and make it clear. The Church was founded by Christ Our Lord, and he can't deceive, or be deceived, either. He's God.
Some people say that the Holy Spirit blows in new ways and directions, but the Holy Spirit is also God. So either God contradicts Himself, or people are wrong. It also strikes me as especially convenient that people find these new interpretations where sex is involved.
Most of the time, I just wish people had the brass to say, "It's too hard; I'm giving up, and doing something else."
Outside this particular issue, someone was telling a story of someone they know who's "been together" with his girlfriend 5 years. To be plain about it, I got tired of the lack of clarity, and I said, "There is no 'together.' You're either married, or not married." My friend said, "That's a narrow-minded view." I replied, "Yeah, yeah, it is. You know what else is narrow? The way to Heaven."
Don't get me wrong; I understand weakness better than most people. If there weren't an authentic "gradualism," I'd have been tossed out of the Church on day 2. Bottom line, though: We're either made for God, or religion actually is "the opiate of the masses." If we choose the latter, there's no point in hectoring people about being more like Jesus, because Jesus would be a fiction, a figure for the imagination. Other people choose the former, but they are so fond of the pleasure of approval, they think somehow that they will avoid the hostility heaped on Jesus and His followers. Let me know how that works out.
I can remember the next leader of the free world saying that marriage involves a man, and a woman. 10 years ago. In fact, he said it was revealed by God, and that as a result, he didn't have the right to believe otherwise. Either the entire world has been composed of hapless bigots in every time and place, or people are making things up. I think people yell, "Love is love!" because they know it isn't.
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