As a gay (SSA) Catholic, I'm exhausted

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Actually, no. Do you understand what obstinately and persistently refusing to believe a dogmatic Church teaching means?
 
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Actually I do. It means somebody is using their conscience and their God-given intelligence to determine what is morally correct.

I believe there are two kinds of practicing Catholics. The first group participates in the Church because they are looking for an authority to tell them how to conduct themselves. The second group has decided Church teaching, for the most part, aligns with their moral beliefs and so they join the Church to be with like-minded people. Occasionally they come up against issues that they do not agree with the Church on, so they disregard them out of a matter of conscience. They are still Catholic, just the same.
 
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That is moral relativism and prideful humanism. It is not, however, Catholic.
 
One is not free to obstinately and persistently deny or doubt a Church teaching, revealed by God, i.e. dogma.
 
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But they are, and they do. And they are still every bit as Catholic as anyone else who’s here. They’ve been baptized, and they practice their faith to the best of their ability.
 
Perhaps these people of whom you speak don’t understand that in the Catholic Church, marriage is only between man and woman and this is a truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith. Perhaps they are invincibly ignorant, incredulous though that sounds.
 
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No. They are more in line with what is sometimes referred to as a cafeteria Catholic. They embrace the bulk of the faith, but when their conscience does not allow them to embrace every single teaching, they don’t run away. They stay, because they believe in the bulk of Church teaching. It is just a different way of looking at it. They still are every bit as Catholic as anyone else. An example would also be practicing Catholics who use artificial birth control. Many more do, than don’t. They are still 100% Catholic.
 
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JMMJ said:
Occasionally they come up against issues that they do not agree with the Church on, so they disregard them out of a matter of conscience.
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Conscience? Or hardness of heart? See Matthew 19.
 
A Catholic who fully understands but persists in obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, [or] obstinate doubt concerning the same, is in a state of mortal sin. This is crystal clear, and unequivocal.
 
Wrong. Would you say the same thing to me if I stated ‘the poor are a drag on society and I wish they’d be euthanized, I know what the Church teaches but I am following my conscience’?

As Catholics, we conform ourselves to the Body of Christ. Among other things, we accept her authority and teachings. My conscience is guided by the Church, not the world. And if I am out of step with the Church on anything, I consider the fact that it’s me who needs to change.

I’m 100% sure this is in accordance with examples given in Gospels of people who wanted to follow Jesus but were put off by his hard sayings.
 
I actually do know some Catholics who believe in elective euthanasia. Again, it is a matter of conscience. And like it or not, they are still Catholics and they are still members of the Church.
 
Ok, perhaps in your definition cafeteria Catholics are still 100% “Catholic.” So be it. However, they are not embracing the narrow road to holiness. Jesus Himself told us all about this.
 
Catholics who persist in obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith are not in communion with the Catholic Church. This much is clear.
 
JMMJ said:
actually do know some Catholics who believe in elective euthanasia. Again, it is a matter of conscience. And like it or not, they are still Catholics and they are still members of the Church.
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That’s a solidly anti-Catholic thing to believe.

Again, the conscience needs to be formed by the Church, not by the secular culture or political ideologies.
 
I would never make that judgment. I know people who believe in euthanasia, and who demonstrate a love of God and neighbor far greater than many of the other Catholics who consider themselves faithful in every way. They are some of the kindest most empathetic people I know and they would sacrifice everything to care for others.

It makes me uneasy for one Catholic to ever judge the quality of Catholic their neighbor is.
 
Yeah, we’ve heard the “don’t judge” before. I hear a lot of loosy-goosy bad interpretation of Vatican II in what you are stating. Been there, done that–and it is simply wrong. You cannot assume (to use your example of euthanasia) that you have power over life and death, usurping the power of God, and then plead brotherly love. I’ve heard people make the same argument about how “loving” an act of abortion is. No, God is not put to shame. We are 100% obliged to accept and practice the Church’s teaching, and not arrogate to ourselves our morality on serious issues. That was the fault of Adam and Eve in the Garden, remember.
 
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