A very senior prelate is reported recently to have said
"X, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like that and loves you like this and I don't care. [I] love you like this. You have to be happy with who you are."
I find it logically helpful to substitute other things for gay (Paedophile? Psychopath?) and to see how the propositions look then.
Of course, this is a dangerous line to take. Those with an enfeebled grasp of logic are likely to blurt out "So you're saying that all homosexuals are paedophiles!" or "So you think homosexuals are as bad as psychopaths?"
(In fact, I think that Christian homosexuals are, almost by definition, likely to be more admirable than heterosexuals. Because, denied the sexual outlets which are available to heterosexuals, they lead a grace-filled and continent life. I condemn those heterosexuals, often fundamentalist Evangelicals, who are very 'strong' against homosexuality, but don't seem to have noticed what the Lord said about remarriage after divorce.)
Questions abound, some of them in the field known as theodicy. Does God make people gay, or are there (sometimes?) cultural factors involved? If gaydom is to be deemed a matter of divine creation, why is paedophilia (or bipolarity or spina bifida) not to be so considered? If gaydom is a matter of divine creation, does this imply that those so born should be permitted/encouraged to live along their instincts?
These are difficult questions. But Holy Mother Church has always taken the line that, whatever one is born with, one is still subject to the same divine laws (although psychological compulsion may well diminish the subjective culpability of particular breaches of the laws in individual cases).
If this is, according to the High Prelate concerned, no longer true, then it is not only 'gays' who are affected. There are other categories who need to be reassured that they are made the way they are by God, loved like that by him, and expected by him to be happy with the way they are; others who, perhaps, must be allowed to express the sexual inclinations God is said to have put within them.
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was for nearly three decades at Lancing College; where he taught Latin and Greek language and literature, was Head of Theology, and Assistant Chaplain. He has served three curacies, been a Parish Priest, and Senior Research Fellow at Pusey House in Oxford. Since 2011, he has been in full communion with the See of S Peter. The opinions expressed on this Blog are not asserted as being those of the Magisterium of the Church, but as the writer's opinions as a private individual. Nevertheless, the writer strives, hopes, and prays that the views he expresses are conformable with and supportive of the Magisterium. In this blog, the letters PF stand for Pope Francis. On this blog, 'Argumentum ad hominem' refers solely to the Lockean definition, Pressing a man with the consequences of his own concessions'.
... once graced the high altar of the church of Sancta Maria in Ara Coeli on the Capitoline Hill.
Fr John Hunwicke
was for nearly three decades at Lancing College; where he taught Latin and Greek language and literature, was Head of Theology, and Assistant Chaplain. He has served three curacies, been a Parish Priest, and Senior Research Fellow at Pusey House in Oxford. Since 2011, he has been in full communion with the See of S Peter. The opinions expressed on this Blog are not asserted as being those of the Magisterium of the Church, but as the writer's opinions as a private individual. Nevertheless, the writer strives, hopes, and prays that the views he expresses are conformable with and supportive of the Magisterium. In this blog, the letters PF stand for Pope Francis. On this blog, 'Argumentum ad hominem' refers solely to the Lockean definition, Pressing a man with the consequences of his own concessions'.
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11 comments:
Amorous latitia on steroids.
We are all in the same boat. As the hymn at Lauds this morning says:
Evincat mentis castitas
quae caro cupit arrogans
The High Prelate is really saying that we Rigid, Pharisaical, Promethean Catholics must comply with his God of Surprises opinion that there is no Hell, no Sin, no Catholic God & everyone will be saved except those who refuse to look after Mother Earth by keeping our numbers down, allowing Euthanasia/Abortion in certain cases which the local clergy can now forgive (he doesn't want that responsibility & who is he to judge anyway), that we are all made the way we are & should celebrate our true identity - if he doesn't mind why should the All-Merciful God mind? Our only concern is that the High Prelate is a Semi-Pope without full infallible jurisdiction & the other Semi-Pope remains silent & isn't fully co-operating with the High Prelate nor with the doubting public so we remain in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
The "born that way" plea is routinely invoked with indignation when orthodox Christians advise their unfortunate brothers and sisters to stop "acting" that way, as if therapy corrective to the norm would be a challenge to the diversity of God's comprehensive creativity. One cannot help noticing however, and longs to ask why it is, that Fr. Martin SJ wears eyeglasses with corrective lenses.
What’s the difference between what the prelate said and saying that God is the author of evil?
We are expected to accept the insanity that homosexual behaviour is 'hard-wired' and immutable, while one can choose, in a whim, to adopt the physical structure of one's opposite sex.
To take examples that Pope Francis has condemned, what about those who God made rigid or moralistic?
I love your comment Ana it really cheered me up!
Rather strange that various sorts of mental departure from the norm; OCD, kleptomania, etc., are regarded as aberrant and candidates for treatment but homo sexuality is "normal" and to be accepted, with all its baggage, as is. No wonder the profession is held in skeptical regard by many.
If we are born with certain tendencies or physical deficiencies, we have to be happy in spite of them. We are not called to be miserable all of our lives with self-pity. This hinders us from being our best. I hope this is what the pope meant.
Psychological compulsion is part of our sin nature which Christ helps us to deal with if we are receptive to Him. The fruit of the Spirit temperance is the fruit that lifts us into a place of strength to counter compulsions and addictions. The Holy Spirit is not received by vows or even by the Eucharist. The sacraments associated with receiving the Spirit are Baptism and Confirmation. We receive Christ by faith—a faith that includes unconditional trust in Christ.
The reason that this would sound foreign to many Catholics is the same reason why there is so much sin recurrence even after confession and communion. This type of faith is not taught. It is not taught because it is not part of Catholic culture. This affects both clergy and the rest of us.
Scripture is helpful in this regard. We are told to cast all of our care on the Lord and to be anxious for nothing (1Peter 5:5-7 and Philippians 4:6-7). This is how I received the peace and strength to deal with my personal lust issues.
What's more important - living a righteous life, being kind, compassionate, forgiving and loving or being "heterosexual? I thing we need to get our priorities straight and stop judging people from the outside. I personally know of some Catholics who are the most vicious, cruel, evil people I have ever met - but not because their Catholic! Shallow, self-centered, self- righteous people see on the outside. The Christ followers see others from the heart. The care about PEOPLE, not labels.
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