Anyway, it just makes me mad when I see so much hostility towards the sin of homosexual activity, but hardly any whatsoever towards the sin of masturbation or porn use.
First, while you are right to get MAD about people not caring as much about Porn and Masturbation, it does not mean that the solution is to be lenient on Homosexuality too. Right? So in this sense, your goal is a bit questionable.
Secondly, Homosexuality and Porn are both bad things. But there is also a difference in the effect.
Homosexuality involves a more DIRECT attack on a basic social unit known as the family. It tries to reduce sexuality and family to an idea that it is merely an arrangement for pleasure and to make each other feel good. So in this sense, there is a much more urgent need to combat such a sin. If we fail, we are looking at the demise of the basic social unit, the family. So in this sense it is a very public SIN and one has to worry about scandal in dealing with such sins and those engaged in this sin.
Porn does partly contribute to building up a disordered view of sex. So the church clearly states it is against it. If a teacher is engaged in Porn production or works part time as a Porn star, the uprising would be just as similar. BUT, if the teacher is watching porn, no-one might even know about it. Same goes for masturbation.
Homosexual relationships OR ANY RELATIONSHIP on the other hand are public phenomenon. This goes back to what I said to you earlier that relationships are not merely a personal affair.
Thus, for the sake of preventing scandal, the practice of homosexuality is a bigger concern.
I’m not talking about for teaching jobs, just in general. People will come on here and talk about homosexual activity as though being the worst sin in the world.
It’s not the worst sin in the world. BUT, it is a very problematic sin for
- it attacks the basic unit of society, the family
- it is a public sin and thus causes scandal
There will be multiple threads all over this forum with questions like “should I be friends with a homosexual?”, “should I go to a party where a homosexual will be present?”, “should I refuse my services to a homosexual individual?”
And all of those questions are very much justified SINCE they are public affairs AND HAVE THE possibility of causing scandal.
…Why not have the same sort of attitude towards people who commit OTHER mortal sins of the flesh? Specifically masturbation, which I’m sure a lot of people here do, despite being holy and religious. Is it because so many people here do it that it just kinda gets more dismissed?
Not at all. The number of people doing is not the problem.
First, the people here, at least most of them, I think are trying to get rid of the sin in their lives and seeking help.
Second, it is a private sin that has no public dimension to it. If I talk to my very close friend Jessie down the road, its highly unlikely that the whole neighborhood knows he is a “masturbator”. So people rarely ask that kind of question. Same with watching porn.
On the other hand, if Jessie is a world famous porn star and I start paying her private visits late night at her home, then it can be very scandalous.
Same with Homosexuality. No one has a problem with associating with people who don’t engage in homosexual activity but have homosexual inclinations. On the other hand, one has a problem with associating with Jack and Joe down the road and treating them as a couple. That is scandalous.
So the difference here is that all the sins you mentioned are mostly things that fall in to the private aspect and has no problem of causing scandal. Porn has two dimensions to it. The producer and consumer. When looking at the consumer, it is a private aspect of sin. The producers have a public aspect of sin involved.
But homosexuality, as mentioned in this thread and those questions are dealing with a PUBLIC aspect.
After all, they are BOTH equally offensive mortal sins of the flesh, in the eyes of God. If you’re someone who struggles with masturbation, maybe you should focus on that, rather than starting threads about how to boycott homosexuals as much as possible, considering your sin is just as grave as theirs.
See, it is statements like this that really get people ticked off with you.
You don’t seem to understand why they ask the questions and why their questions are justified to begin with. Then instead of asking for clarification, you go and make a statement accusing them of hypocrisy. You don’t think that such actions on your part are problematic?
I don’t care either way, as I struggle with neither of these sins. I just happen to notice the double standard, and it bugs me.
It bugs you because you don’t understand that there is no double standard here. I hope the above explanations help your understanding.
God Bless
“What do you mean you struggle with sin? You are a Catholic school teacher you can’t struggle with sin!”