Graeme Posted May 23, 2018 Report Share Posted May 23, 2018 Pope Francis's comment to a gay man It's still early days, but if true, this is a big step forward for the Catholic Church. Link to comment
Merkin Posted May 23, 2018 Report Share Posted May 23, 2018 Pope Francis, bless his heart, has said words to this effect several times. What he leaves out is the subtext: 'it's OK as long as you don't practice homosexuality'. Link to comment
Graeme Posted May 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2018 @Merkin the interesting thing here is he's saying it's not a choice, that the gay man was born that way. While I concede your point, saying God made him gay is a big step forward. Indeed, it's the first step towards removing that subtext... Link to comment
Cole Parker Posted May 24, 2018 Report Share Posted May 24, 2018 And if he really means it, then the obvious conclusion is gay must be good, because the things God made are good. I guess. I'm not much of a theologian. So if God made people gay, then that's why they're gay, and so the question then arises, why should they be deprived of a full and satisfying life? Priests, being celibate, have make that choice for themselves. Gay men haven't. C Link to comment
Camy Posted May 25, 2018 Report Share Posted May 25, 2018 @Cole Parker So sorry, I thought you said 'Priests being celibate.' Redundant journalists, tabloids shutting up shop, and choirs celebrating - Heaven forbid! Link to comment
ChrisR Posted May 25, 2018 Report Share Posted May 25, 2018 The problem with the underlying theory that "God made you this way" therefore homosexuality must be perfect is that God made everyTHING and everyBODY. That must include such wonders as ax murderers, rapists, and gang enforcers. So alongside the approbation these "lifestyles" obviously must have is the need for the people thus created to NOT practice their otherwise natural tendencies. I suspect that those who possess such wonders must, in God's plan, lead lives that somehow avoid what Catholics refer to as "the near occasion of sin". (But a lot don't, to other people's sorrow.) For the record, God created Satan, right? Not exactly first on my list of who to invite along on a cruise. Even though we are oft reminded that all God's creations are good. And let's not even pretend that fried liver even approaches Godhood. I'm all for letting the calves grow up healthy and strong. (Although as a seafood lover, fish on Friday was never a problem!) And as far as homosexuality is concerned, it's a bit more of "to each his own said the woman as she kissed the cow." Each person takes what he's given and decides what to do with it. If it is DONE for good purpose, more power to it. Link to comment
Cole Parker Posted May 25, 2018 Report Share Posted May 25, 2018 I'd say that's a specious analogy, equating ax murders, gang enforcers and rapists to gays because God made the all. Quite obviously the first three are despicable choices those fellows made after God had created them, and the Pope must have meant that for gays, their being wasn't a choice; otherwise the statement makes no sense. C Link to comment
Graeme Posted May 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2018 @Cole Parker Exactly! One of the reasons some people use for discrimination is that being gay "is a choice" and hence isn't a protected attribute. Having the Pope say it's not a choice undercuts some of those people (though, I'll concede a lot of those people probably think the Pope can be ignored, anyway, since many of them are Protestants, not Catholics). Link to comment
JamesSavik Posted May 25, 2018 Report Share Posted May 25, 2018 The problem protestants have with this is that to accept God made you this way, they have to accept implied biblical error in the six whole verses in the protestant bible that might apply to homosexuality. It is hard for any religion to acknowledge an inconsistency. They have, and will, LITERALLY go to war over stuff like that. Europe's history in these matters is quite bloody. Link to comment
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