From Roy McKenzie: My friend I am afraid you have fallen into the mire of relativism. The end of 1806
Quote:
Originally Posted by Catechism of the Catholic Church
With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.
Clearly we are to avoid evil and if we look at what the Catechism defines as Marriage. We knowing that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a true and sure norm, that defining truth. We will see in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that “gay marriage” is a lie. A lie equals the work of the devil, king of lies, the purveyor of evil we can easily see that “gay marriage” is evil. Therefore if we attend a “gay marriage” ceremony we are supporting evil.
It is easy to see in ccc 2357-59 that homosexuality not to be celebrated and the homosexual act is disordered. By attending a “gay marriage” we are giving our approval to the act of marital union being acted out in a gravely disordered fashion.
I analogies it like we are attending an abortion as the abortionist guest.
I appreciate your concern and comments that not going to such a ceremony may be correct and potentially scandalous. I also agree that we are to avoid committing evil acts or thoughts. It doesn’t mean that we don’t minister and witness in the presence of sin.
For this reason, I disagree that attending a gay wedding necessarily means one has succumbed to relativism or that your abortion is applicable in all situations (but I concede it is approproate in some situations and probably most).
Relativism by definition is the thesis that all points of view are equally valid. I don’t believe that a gay wedding is equal to a sacramental marriage and I have the intellectual and moral understanding to distinguish them.
Additionally, attendence at such an event isn’t necessarily scandal. Was it scandal when a Priest (relative of the deceased) attended a private memorial service where the deceased was an atheist/agnostic and the burial rite was a Masonic rite (If you havent’ ever attended one, it will turn your stomach as it is filled w/ pagan symbolism)? Only a simpleton would think that the Priest was there to endorse the ceremony or the beliefs of the deceased. Everyone knew he and the other Christians were there to pay their respects and all us Catholics even prayed for the deceased. Some of us laughed afterwards that the deceased would have chasticed us had he been physically with us.
I don’t think I know a single person closely who is gay. And because of that, I’m not a good person to know how I’d react if I were to be invited to such a ceremony. This being said that I probably would decline the invitation for reasons articulated in this thread and probably others.
However, if faced with the situation, I believe it may be prudent to act differently. I in know way think it ok to condone this wrong behaviour. At the same time, attending doesn’t necessarily imply that one is condoning it. Just as a Priest or medical professional can minister or deliver health care to a homosexual, one can be a friend to a homosexual.
I have a friend who is a confirmed Catholic, was married before, and remarried a non-Catholic and isn’t practicing his faith. He knows full well my views on his situation. We talked about it when he and his new wife were dating, we’ve talked about it since. But I had no qualms about attending their Lutheran marriage ceremony. He is my friend. I want him to get to heaven. And I knew that if I were to avoid his wedding, I’d lose the friendship and the opportunity to ever “minister” to him about how he would be served to get an annulment and come home to the Church. My attendence didn’t imply that I supported the marriage. My attendence was a outward sign that I love him just as the Priest and I said when we attended the funeral I mentioned above.
If a friend or relative of a gay person were faced with similar circumstances and reached the same conclusion, I’d respect his prudence (regardless of which decision he made) especially if I knew him to be a man of prayer. I really think we need to acknowledge that certain people will reach different conclusions in various circumstances and that the answer is not always right. This is why we are given the gift and grace of Prudence.
See the next post for part 2.
). Some years, some of them would later decide to go to the strip club. This is when I’d decide to just go to my room. One of the guys in the group was like me a father of many girls. This one time, I felt moved to go along with them (you should have seen the look of shock). We got a table, ordered our drinks, I avoided taking any pleasure from the environment, but sat there w/o expressing any outward disgust or disapproval. I acted as if we were still in the previous pub. But near the end of the evening, I leaned over to the guy who had the daughters and said to him “You know, every one of these girls is someone’s daughter.” The look on his face was priceless.