I totally agree with you Pathia & Exalt. The laws of all religions change over time, and they have greatly with Judiasm and Christianity. The Catholic church’s laws change constantly. For instance, just in the past short 40 years, rules of the RCC that were SINS, and needed to be absolved by going to confession:
Touching the Eucharist with the fingers or any body part but the mouth.
Eating meat on any Friday of the year.
Women in church without anything on their heads.
Fasting since midnight before receiving morning communion. (I recall more than once seeing people faint at mass from skipping breakfast)
Stepping foot in any church but the Catholic church.
Among others. But, according to the RCC today, all these are no longer sins. (And, don’t anyone try and say the church never considered these sins, because they absolutely were called sins!) What’s sin today may not be sin tomorrow.
It does not seem wise to allow an organization like the Catholic church, who changes it’s so called sins at whim, to make rules such as who can engage in sexual relationships and who cannot. Or to follow any of it’s rules for that matter.
I was just listening to a show last night that addressed this very topic. (what is and is not a sin, not necessarily homosexual activity)
The speaker clarified the arguement that the sin was not necessarily eating meat on Friday, but rather disobedience to the directive.
To put it another way, if my child wants to eat a cookie there is nothing specifically wrong with that action. However, if I should tell her “no cookies” and she eats one anyway, she has disobeyed me and will get into trouble. She might not realize it, but perhaps there was a very good reason for me to tell her not to eat cookies. Maybe there was something in it that she’s allergic to, or perhaps she needs to be on a diet. These aren’t necessarily things that she’ll understand, but she still needs to be obedient.
I don’t see the church every changing her views on homosexual activity. And whether people like it or not, it is our place as Catholics to trust our Holy Father to make these kinds of decisions, and to be obedient. We might not like it, but this is where faith comes in.
I don’t like the idea of no artificial birth control, but I trust that the law is there for a good reason, and I accept it.
There are moral laws, just as there are civil laws. If you go out on a Friday night and get drunk, then get in your car you’re going to be arrested, whether you hurt someone or not. Just the same, if we break the moral law, whether or not anyone else is hurt in the process, we
will pay the penalty.
If I were to rely solely on myself, my intellect, my conscience to guide me I’d be a fool. It is far too easy to rationalize behavior, and with time, your conscience becomes dull. (how many mortal sins have I committed because I convinced myself I was in the right???) And while I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, it would be incredibly arrogant to think that I understand scripture better than the pope.
The Catholic Church is not on some kind of power trip. The goal is not to control us, but rather to act as a moral compass. This is not for the good of the church and it’s heirarchy, but for the good of all God’s people.
PEACE.
