Are chaste same-sex relationships Christian?

[scapularkid8]

I was just thinking about chastity pertaining to heterosexual relationships/couples and wondered what the Christian view of a chaste same-sex relationship is?

Maybe my conscience is ill-informed, but I don’t see anything wrong with it? Just like any other Christian couple, they’d be called to live chastely, but in this case for their entire life (assuming that’s how long they are in this relationship with a same-sex individual). The difference is that they both carry the cross of chastity (the same cross carried by every Christian, regardless of orientation) that is slightly different from a married heterosexual couple.

…Correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[FightingFat]

What’s the difference between that situation and any same sex friends you have now? Is it a sexual attraction that makes the difference?

As far as I can make it out, it is homosexual acts that the Catechism condemns as inherantly disordered.

I also think real love is never disordered.

 

[puzzleannie]

chaste same sex relationships are called friendships

chaste relationships between two persons of opposite gender are called friendships

before the gay lib lobby perverted the word “relationship” and denied the reality of friendship, that was the meaning. Chaste means the possibility of genital or sexual pleasure or exploitation does not arise between friends.

if you are talking about a couple, same sex or opposite gender, that wants to live together in a manner that they insist society regard as a marriage, with the legal and other privileges that accure to marriage, even though they may do “everything but”, you are talking about something else. if they are vowed to religious life, such a household is called a monastery or convent.

if you are talking about two or more people of the same sex sharing a household so save on rent and/or comradeship, that is called, two or more people sharing a household, it is not called gay marriage, civil union, or anything else.

two people with a strong homoerotic attraction (call it what it is, leave the euphemisms to lobbyists) attempting to live together chastely is at the very least a strong occasion of sin, and carries danger of psychological and spiritual damage. It makes about as much sense spiritually and poses just as strong temptation as a heterosexual man and woman, strongly attracted to each other, attempting to live in the same household doing “everything but.”

you cannot compare such a living arrangement to a real sacramental marriage in which the parties must be continent for a period of time (health, etc) because they have the extreme graces of the sacrament of marriage to assist them.

if you happen to know personally homosexuals in orientation who are living in chastity for their state in life, you are gifted in being in contact with some of the strongest, most courageous saints-in-training we have today.

 

[Archerette74]

If there are 2 people of the same sex who are attracted to one another yet trying to live a chaste lifestyle while continuing to be close to one another, wouldn’t that be an occasion to sin?

Two celebate individuals of the same sex, who are not attracted to one another but who have a close friendship is just that - a friendship. The line to avoid is individuals who are same sex and attracted to one another. It would be all too easy to cross the line despite the best of intentions.

 

[Godefridus]

In the early Church there were couples (heterosexual) who attempted to have a “spiritual marriage”–a continent, heterosexual coupling. See this Google Books link for more info. I think the same attitude would apply to continent homosexual cohabitators.

 

[stbruno]

Chastity has always been a virtue that everyone should strive for, whether married or unmarried.

At least that’s what I have been taught…virtues are something we all need…not vices. Therefore it should not be taken lightly, but with the reverence it deserves. It’s not some penalty those who wish to succumb to earthly desires must resist…It’s a virtue!

 

[Fitswimmer]

If there are 2 people of the same sex who are attracted to one another yet trying to live a chaste lifestyle while continuing to be close to one another, wouldn’t that be an occasion to sin?

Two celebate individuals of the same sex, who are not attracted to one another but who have a close friendship is just that - a friendship. The line to avoid is individuals who are same sex and attracted to one another. It would be all too easy to cross the line despite the best of intentions.

I would agree-it would be the same issue with two close heterosexual friends of different genders. WAY too much room for temptation to enter in.

I can’t imagine even trying it.

 

[Contarini]

two people with a strong homoerotic attraction (call it what it is, leave the euphemisms to lobbyists) attempting to live together chastely is at the very least a strong occasion of sin, and carries danger of psychological and spiritual damage. It makes about as much sense spiritually and poses just as strong temptation as a heterosexual man and woman, strongly attracted to each other, attempting to live in the same household doing “everything but.”

No, the cases are not the same. An unmarried man and woman in the situation you describe can simply get married. End of problem. A gay person can’t. It may be that in certain circumstances a person with strong homosexual inclinations may find it easier to live chastely in a “committed relationship” (and by “chastely” I do mean asexually, with no expressions of affection that heterosexual friends would not indulge in) than in a life of loneliness. It may be easier for two Christian men (or women) to keep one another out of the bars and other sites of promiscuity than for one person to do it on his own.

As a heterosexual looking back at my years of singleness, I think that by and large I sinned less sexually (bearing in mind that fantasies and masturbation are serious sin) when I was in a dating relationship than when I wasn’t. Yes, I was tempted to “go too far.” But I was restrained by my respect for my girlfriend and my desire not to hurt her or lead her astray. When one is alone, such considerations don’t apply in the same way. Obviously the case is not the same–but that strengthens my point. The analogy I’ve given is about as close as a non-divorced heterosexual (single or married) can come to the situation of a homosexual trying to live chastely.

At the very least, I doubt that such a relationship would make a person with strong homosexual inclinations significantly *more *likely to fall into sexual sin. I think you underestimate how much sexual “mischief” a person living alone can get into!

Edwin