Diabolical Disorentation

[JamesCaruso]

The following was written by a member of the clergy…

**'No issue brings out so much hatred from so many Catholics as homosexuality. Even after over 25 years as a Jesuit, the level of hatred around homosexuality is nearly unbelievable to me, especially when I think of all of the wonderful LGBT friends I have.

The Catholic church must do a much better job of teaching what the Catechism says: that we should treat our LGBT brothers and sisters with “respect, sensitivity and compassion.”

But God wants more. God wants us to love. And not a twisted, crabbed, narrow tolerance, which often comes in the guise of condemnations, instructions and admonitions that try to masquerade as love, but actual love.

Love means: getting to know LGBT men and women, spending time with them, listening to them, being challenged by them, hoping the best for them, and wanting them to be a part of your lives, every bit as much as straight friends are part of your lives.

Love first. Everything else later. In fact, everything else is meaningless without love.’**

I consider this to be what Our Lady Of Fatima referred to as Diabolical Disorentation.
What do you think?

Is it homosexuals that most Catholics hate or oppose, or is it the agenda of many in the LGBT community to promote and to normalize behavior that Catholics view as sinful and damaging to the moral fabric of our society?

I think the first order of business for many Catholics should be to go out and make friends with more Catholic men and women. We should spend the most of our time with those who build us up in our faith and support our spiritual development, so that we will have the strength and spiritual wherewithal to relate to the LGBT men and women, as well as all the other people we know who live lives antithetical to our Catholic faith, whom we already know and come into contact with every day in our workplaces, playplaces, and other activities. The problem, at least for me, is that I know more unchurched and irreligious people than I do serious Christians.

LGBT men and women are welcome in my church, but not those who espouse sinful lifestyles/behavior as defined by the Catholic Church. It is not hate that keeps them out of our churches, it is their own choosing. We welcome anyone who determines to give up sin and try to live good Christian lives. No one is asking for perfection, but the Church does require us to firmly resolve to rid ourselves of serious sin.

I have met two kinds of practicing gays outside the Church, those who have found denominations where being a practicing gay is considered okay, and those who don’t go to any church. Neither appear much interested in joining the Catholic church where homosexual behavior is considered sinful.