C
catholic1seeks
Guest
Pardon the way the question was phrased, but I think I got the basic idea squeezed into the heading.
The Catholic Church likes to talk about how same-sex attraction can be a beautiful opportunity to find strength and God and foster a life of holiness. People in the church as well as official writings acknowledge that homosexual attraction is not chosen, and that it can be a very hard struggle in the life of faith.
So I understand that – in theory – the homosexual Christian is able to take up his cross, follow Christ, and achieve a beautiful life of sanctity. Our life, after all, is not about earthly happiness, for we are transcendent beings meant for a much greater fulfillment.
Okay.
But what about the people who have not been raised with this faith perspective, those whose faith does not “click” in this way? What about those people who – because of their upbringing, personality, or experiences – simply will not find the church’s alternative to be reasonable, at all?
We all know people in our lives who are like this. Perhaps many of us have close gay friends or family. They have a certain view of the world. They have a certain perspective, they are even good people, they are loving, caring, and family-oriented. They may even be part of a religious or Christian tradition that accepts same-sex marriage. They have this deep attraction, this deep orientation, that affects who they are. But for whatever reason, it simply is a ridiculous thought that they would ever see traditional Catholic teaching as making any sense of their attractions and experiences (say their experiences with their partners, gay lovers, etc.).
What’s the point of this person’s same-sex attraction? I assume that their ignorance and experience will excuse them for participating in an active homosexual life. (I.e., They won’t go to hell simply because they don’t live by the Catholic way.) But this question isn’t really about that, and I don’t want to debate moral culpability. And I don’t really care for the simple answer “By God’s grace, anyone can come to see the Catholic view on homosexuality.” The fact is, there are plenty of well-meaning people who are probably moved by God’s grace at whatever stage in life they are in (Catholic or not, Christian or not). Yet many of them do not adopt the traditional approach, which demands lifelong celibacy.
As another thought, it seems that for many of these people, their same-sex attraction is an upfront, obvious obstacle to belief in Catholicism or traditional Christianity at all. For example, I have an atheist friend who is also gay. The thought of traditional Christian approaches to homosexuality would be so far removed from his mind, that the simple suggestion of that worldview would probably move him even further from religion and God. Still, grace…
So… any thoughts?
The Catholic Church likes to talk about how same-sex attraction can be a beautiful opportunity to find strength and God and foster a life of holiness. People in the church as well as official writings acknowledge that homosexual attraction is not chosen, and that it can be a very hard struggle in the life of faith.
So I understand that – in theory – the homosexual Christian is able to take up his cross, follow Christ, and achieve a beautiful life of sanctity. Our life, after all, is not about earthly happiness, for we are transcendent beings meant for a much greater fulfillment.
Okay.
But what about the people who have not been raised with this faith perspective, those whose faith does not “click” in this way? What about those people who – because of their upbringing, personality, or experiences – simply will not find the church’s alternative to be reasonable, at all?
We all know people in our lives who are like this. Perhaps many of us have close gay friends or family. They have a certain view of the world. They have a certain perspective, they are even good people, they are loving, caring, and family-oriented. They may even be part of a religious or Christian tradition that accepts same-sex marriage. They have this deep attraction, this deep orientation, that affects who they are. But for whatever reason, it simply is a ridiculous thought that they would ever see traditional Catholic teaching as making any sense of their attractions and experiences (say their experiences with their partners, gay lovers, etc.).
What’s the point of this person’s same-sex attraction? I assume that their ignorance and experience will excuse them for participating in an active homosexual life. (I.e., They won’t go to hell simply because they don’t live by the Catholic way.) But this question isn’t really about that, and I don’t want to debate moral culpability. And I don’t really care for the simple answer “By God’s grace, anyone can come to see the Catholic view on homosexuality.” The fact is, there are plenty of well-meaning people who are probably moved by God’s grace at whatever stage in life they are in (Catholic or not, Christian or not). Yet many of them do not adopt the traditional approach, which demands lifelong celibacy.
As another thought, it seems that for many of these people, their same-sex attraction is an upfront, obvious obstacle to belief in Catholicism or traditional Christianity at all. For example, I have an atheist friend who is also gay. The thought of traditional Christian approaches to homosexuality would be so far removed from his mind, that the simple suggestion of that worldview would probably move him even further from religion and God. Still, grace…
So… any thoughts?
