by Hortensia 11 Replies latest social current
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22869399
Look at the slant given to this news:
In the days leading up to Pope Benedict XVI's resignation in February, the Italian media carried many un-sourced reports that gay Vatican clergymen had been working together to advance their personal interests, leaving the Holy See vulnerable to blackmail.
Or gay vatican clergymen have been working to overcome the church's hatred of gays?
Those filthy homos. They're ruining everything.
I'm not surprised.
Wonder how they'll do well with the boyscouts.
The Church doesn't hate gays. A gay person has to be celebate, as do all non-married persons, to be in a state of grace. Of course, not all non-married persons are chaste and they are still welcome in the Church, as are homosexuals. But the rules of the Church don't change with the society around it. The Church teaches that homosexual conduct is a sin; that sex outside of marriage is a sin. We believe marriage is between one man and one woman. The Church also believes in doing everything it can to help people who are single, whether gay or straight, to remain chaste through classes, groups, etc. Pretty much, the Church teaches what all Christian churches taught 100 years ago. Today, however, society has changed. The Church believes that Jesus made the rules and the Church doesn't have the authority to change them.
Yes, there are gay clergy in the Vatican who would like the Church to change its attitude and allow practicing homosexuals to be priests. Won't happen, ever. They need to get over it. Or become Episcopalian.
The Church believes that Jesus made the rules and the Church doesn't have the authority to change them.
So, where did Jesus forbid priests to marry? Or even establish a priesthood at all?
Shador, Re: forbidding priests to marry, that is a construct of men. It was due to disputes over who owned church lands, etc. Today there are about 100 married priests in the Catholic Church in the USA but they were clergy in other denominations who converted to Catholicism. Today's argument against married priests is that you can be a priest or you can be a husband and father but you can't be both and do it well. Shoot, half the priests are so busy they can't do their jobs well. I believe the ban on married priests will probably be lifted in the next 75-100 years. There is a rise in the numbers of permanent deacons who assist the priests because of the priest shortage. Most permanent deacons are married.
Re: the priesthood, that's a really long answer and I'm really tired. Not a copout, just the truth. I'll post the answer here tomorrow.
I believe the ban on married priests will probably be lifted in the next 75-100 years.
yeah, really rapid progress. If it's a construct of men, why is it so important? If it's a construct of men, not of divine origin, why follow it?
Also, why allow stone age bigotry to rule modern lives?
It's just a stupid corrupt religion, like all the rest of them. What puzzles me is why a gay man would want to be a catholic priest, anyway. Why participate in a religion that persecutes them?
BTW, this thread isn't about what the catholic church teaches. It's about how the article was slanted. For instance, why would a reporter, supposedly neutral, call it the "Holy See."
Slanting is sometimes done unconsciously, but often it's used to subtly influence people for or against a group. By saying the gay lobby in the vatican, if such a thing exists, is working together to promote their own personal interests, the subtle implication is that they are acting selfishly. The reporter could have said that there are rumors of a gay lobby in the vatican seeking to promote the rights of homosexuals, which then makes them sound unselfish.
Slanting is a curious and wonderful thing, the tool of propagandists throughout history.
Anyone ever read Language in Thought and Action by S. I. Hayakawa? I read it as a teenager, hiding out at the library and reading all sorts of things that made me eventually into a more critical thinker. If only my mother knew what I was reading!
Anyway, Hayakawa's book is old, but still very very useful and enlightening.
There is no such thing as unbiased media. I D O N " T C A R E W H A T T H E Y S A Y !
Hortensia: What puzzles me is why a gay man would want to be a catholic priest, anyway. Why participate in a religion that persecutes them?
This.
There are so many gay-affirming churches out there who have awakened to what the bible REALLY teaches, and doesn't teach, about homosexuality. Society has changed, that's for sure. In the same way those who discovered the world isn't flat afterall, society is moving around and beyond the codgy religious systems who defiantly remain dug in to their comfort zone of persecuting anyone and anything that does not fit with their outdated, pseudo-moralistic, God-said-so theology. Waking up from the JW cult has given all of us the benefit of seeing the insanity of loyalty to a church or belief system.
If people are comfortable with the way things are, they should just go to church. If they want to know what the bible really teaches, they're going to have to put some effort into it.
The Church teaches that homosexual conduct is a sin; that sex outside of marriage is a sin.
Just goes to show how idiotic the church really is.
