So, I consider myself a relatively liberal Catholic, but a Catholic nonetheless. My mom's is Catholic, my dad agreed to raise us as such, and my upbringing in my lovely little church at home in Ohio was a good one -- it's full of good people and good memories.
Yesterday, however, Andy and I were at Mass, and all was going well...until the homily took a political turn. Which is a red flag/flashing danger sign for sure. In the near future in Vermont (our current home state), this is a vote on whether gay/lesbian couples will be allowed to enter into marriages. Now, it is no secret to me that the Church is against marriage being anything other than one man, one woman, and it is something that I have accepted that I will just have to disagree on, but the tone of the sermon (by our priest who I really do like) was pretty negative. He used phrases such as "under a mistaken notion of equality" (which I'm sure he would also use if I argued that women should be priests), and at the very end, got very negative when he warned that if this were passed, "they" would demand that a priest marry them as their "right," and then priests would be considered civil disobedients and put in jail.
Now, I won't disagree that that might happen -- I know enough about Civil Rights movements to know that testing those limits is part and parcel of the struggle. But the characterizations that gay and lesbian people are out to jail the clergy is, I think, wrong. And I have to imagine that even if this passed, it would be pertaining to marriage in a civil sense. I don't think that they could force religious to change their views and perform sacraments that the religion doesn't believe are valid. Perhaps I'm naive, but I do have a certain amount of faith in the separation of church and state.
As my Dad always says, "If you're going to be Catholic, be Catholic." I have to disagree with him. I'm willing to take some bad with the good. But for the longest time, I had no framework for my gut feeling that homosexuality is NOT a sin, despite the fact that I consider myself to be a Catholic. I got one last year at Pre-Cana, however. At one point, our leader was talking about a formation of conscience, and how we have to pray about things we are unsure about, and allow our conscience to form. I think that my opinions about homosexuality have really developed under such a model. I know that the Church finds it wrong. I really feel in my heart, however, that is isn't. I'm suspicious of all the talk of a "natural order," when homosexual beings have been around since the beginning of time, and I'm not convinced that the ability to procreate has to be a criteria for "natural." I just can't wrap my head around that.
I'm hopeful, despite the horror that the diocese is feeling, that this particular issue changes to allow homosexual marriage, although I would also hope that church opinions would be respected, and that no clergy would be forced to perform any actions against his beliefs. I guess we'll see how it turns out.
3 comments:
Becky, I have some thinking points for you, and I am praying I can deliver them in a way that will, in fact, make you think.
You have always seemed open-minded, so that's why I'm "bothering," if you will. Please don't take any of this with offense.
1. You are correct. BEING homosexual is not a sin. What we ARE is never a sin. How we ACT, what we CHOOSE, when we STEP AWAY from God...that is when we sin.
2. I suspect your news source is the major media. Did you hear about the movement in New Jersey to remove all authority from the clergy?
3. Separation of church and state is a fine thing, but it is interesting to note what it has come to mean versus what it was intended to mean.
4. Is your issue really with the Catholic Church, or is there room for you to explore authority in general? I have struggled with this, myself, for many, many moons. Is my argument with the teachings of the Church, which are the teachings of Jesus Christ, or is my problem with what I want those teachings to be?
Please understand, I'm not trying to get your ire up, so please, please don't read this that way. When I read this, though, I hear so much of how I used to think, so much of the philosophy I used to think was enlightened. When I hear you, Becky, I can't help but see myself ten years ago.
And yet you have such an advantage over me.
We are not called to agree on everything within the Church. But we are called to remain open to the Truth.
Who has the Truth...well, that takes discernment and I encourage you to pray long and hard about the topics in this post, Becky. Yeah, I know. I sound like your mom and I'm really more like your contemporary. (If I was you, I'd be rolling my eyes and hitting the delete key. Good thing you're YOU and not ME!)
Thanks for sharing these thoughts, and for keeping us all sharp in our thinking. Debate and discussion is not bad, remember that, but charity (meaning love of neighbor, what Jesus called the Greatest Commandment) must be first and foremost.
Becky, Happy Easter!! Here's to a spring of new thoughts and continued discussion... I shall contemplate your writings on this topic quite a bit, I assure you... Thank you for initiating a discussion, and for encouraging open-minded thinking!
Becky -
It would be completely unconstitutional for the government to force the Catholic Church (or any church) to marry anyone. It's a blatant violation of the Free Exercise Clause, and The Supreme Court would never let that happen. Ever. No matter who is on the court.
I feel strongly that it's also unconstitutional for the state to deny equal marriage rights (it's a blatant violation of the Equal Protection Clause) but that holding would be completely dependent on who's on the court.
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