C
Coolhandlukeboy
Guest
While I have not had time to read every - or even many - of the posts here, I feel like chiming in and speaking about the topic at hand.
I am a high-school teacher. I teach Moral Theology and Moral Philosophy to many teens. They know the Church’s stance on homosexuality and abortion. If you were to teach them merely the teachings of the Church on these matters, they will shut down. What they don’t need is another source of “don’t” and “should not”.
This does NOT mean that the truth is to be avoided. What it means is that the truth must be presented to a new generation. I recall reading an article by Eve Tushnet - actively Catholic with homosexual tendencies - at a recent event in D.C., which is my archdiocese. She mentions her disappointment with the Diocesan’s approach of Natural Law and philosophical principles this and that. Mind you, I agree with her, and I am also a philosopher. Reference: patheos.com/blogs/evetushnet/2013/09/bedrooms-and-bootstraps.html
We have lost a sense of our humanity in today’s world. Our culture immediately passes judgement on people and categorizes them into diverse groups, all the while claiming that it does no such thing. In high-school, teens are fit into categories of nerds, emos, jocks, gays and the like. It’s time we get rid of this language. What is lost is the identity of the person. People are not considered as humans, but as “types” of human, much like slavery or castes. Society views homosexuals almost as the the pariahs of the world and seeks to do justice by enabling them. Of course, society also does nothing to guide and direct anyone toward anything greater than themselves… and that is the great failure.
Interestingly enough, it we who limit ourselves, and our culture is keen on that point. By calling someone a homosexual, is a limit on a human. As if they can be nothing but this. All the while, I recall St. Thomas Aquinas who understood that what makes us human is our action. A human who does not engage in homosexual activity, is NOT a homosexual, they are a human being. I think this is what Pope Francis is getting at. Christ came to bring all humans to heaven, every last one is our brother and sister.
I will not pretend that the way in which I teach reaches every student. I wonder, much like St. Augustine, at how God moves some people at certain times, while others are not moved. However, I can tell you that my good Catholic students appreciate the Natural Law approach to homosexuality, while everyone else appreciates the other approach.
Students’ response to homosexuality is always the same, every year: “they’re not hurting anyone, what’s so wrong with it?” And right there is the crutch of every student. They don’t know what good is. They are all grandmothers (Flannery O’Connor reference here: pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~surette/goodman.html) I always approach from the perspective “if you tell someone to go live their lives a certain way, you better darn well be sure it’s good for them”. And there begins our journey.
I rarely find people who actually know the Church’s stance. Either they wonder why the Church is so harsh, or they are people who hate homosexuality for all the wrong reasons. How many students who think they are on the side of the Church, but in fact just abhor the action and the person. And how many parishioners will quote from the Bible, when that is the last source people are willing to accept as authority these days (Use the bible to back up what you’re saying, but if all you’ve got is a quote, that’s not deep enough). And how many Catholics engage in contraception, yet think they can turn around and condemn homosexuals?
It’s time we preached real love. Our local area is abounding in youth taking up the call to love God. People need to know how to act Catholic, not recite nor memorize the teachings. They need to know how to love. Our most important unit in Moral Theology is not Natural law, but Love. It is what makes us human. When people hear the Church’s stance on homosexuality, they think the Church is limiting love. To constantly go on and on about limiting it is the wrong direction. That is what - I think, at least - the Holy Father is referring to. He wants Catholics to live their faith, not just know it.
I realize that he also spoke about abortion, but honestly, it’s all in the same section: how we love with limit. Just like Adam and Eve, who limited their love for God by their first sin Our society knows how to limit love… Catholics need to put it back where it belongs: limitless. Pre-evangelization! Read this: patheos.com/blogs/evetushnet/2013/04/the-beauty-of-obedience.html Real, fresh obedience and how through real obedience, we aren’t limited by our own petty desires, but unlimited by following God.
Long-winded, I know, I know…
I am a high-school teacher. I teach Moral Theology and Moral Philosophy to many teens. They know the Church’s stance on homosexuality and abortion. If you were to teach them merely the teachings of the Church on these matters, they will shut down. What they don’t need is another source of “don’t” and “should not”.
This does NOT mean that the truth is to be avoided. What it means is that the truth must be presented to a new generation. I recall reading an article by Eve Tushnet - actively Catholic with homosexual tendencies - at a recent event in D.C., which is my archdiocese. She mentions her disappointment with the Diocesan’s approach of Natural Law and philosophical principles this and that. Mind you, I agree with her, and I am also a philosopher. Reference: patheos.com/blogs/evetushnet/2013/09/bedrooms-and-bootstraps.html
We have lost a sense of our humanity in today’s world. Our culture immediately passes judgement on people and categorizes them into diverse groups, all the while claiming that it does no such thing. In high-school, teens are fit into categories of nerds, emos, jocks, gays and the like. It’s time we get rid of this language. What is lost is the identity of the person. People are not considered as humans, but as “types” of human, much like slavery or castes. Society views homosexuals almost as the the pariahs of the world and seeks to do justice by enabling them. Of course, society also does nothing to guide and direct anyone toward anything greater than themselves… and that is the great failure.
Interestingly enough, it we who limit ourselves, and our culture is keen on that point. By calling someone a homosexual, is a limit on a human. As if they can be nothing but this. All the while, I recall St. Thomas Aquinas who understood that what makes us human is our action. A human who does not engage in homosexual activity, is NOT a homosexual, they are a human being. I think this is what Pope Francis is getting at. Christ came to bring all humans to heaven, every last one is our brother and sister.
I will not pretend that the way in which I teach reaches every student. I wonder, much like St. Augustine, at how God moves some people at certain times, while others are not moved. However, I can tell you that my good Catholic students appreciate the Natural Law approach to homosexuality, while everyone else appreciates the other approach.
Students’ response to homosexuality is always the same, every year: “they’re not hurting anyone, what’s so wrong with it?” And right there is the crutch of every student. They don’t know what good is. They are all grandmothers (Flannery O’Connor reference here: pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~surette/goodman.html) I always approach from the perspective “if you tell someone to go live their lives a certain way, you better darn well be sure it’s good for them”. And there begins our journey.
I rarely find people who actually know the Church’s stance. Either they wonder why the Church is so harsh, or they are people who hate homosexuality for all the wrong reasons. How many students who think they are on the side of the Church, but in fact just abhor the action and the person. And how many parishioners will quote from the Bible, when that is the last source people are willing to accept as authority these days (Use the bible to back up what you’re saying, but if all you’ve got is a quote, that’s not deep enough). And how many Catholics engage in contraception, yet think they can turn around and condemn homosexuals?
It’s time we preached real love. Our local area is abounding in youth taking up the call to love God. People need to know how to act Catholic, not recite nor memorize the teachings. They need to know how to love. Our most important unit in Moral Theology is not Natural law, but Love. It is what makes us human. When people hear the Church’s stance on homosexuality, they think the Church is limiting love. To constantly go on and on about limiting it is the wrong direction. That is what - I think, at least - the Holy Father is referring to. He wants Catholics to live their faith, not just know it.
I realize that he also spoke about abortion, but honestly, it’s all in the same section: how we love with limit. Just like Adam and Eve, who limited their love for God by their first sin Our society knows how to limit love… Catholics need to put it back where it belongs: limitless. Pre-evangelization! Read this: patheos.com/blogs/evetushnet/2013/04/the-beauty-of-obedience.html Real, fresh obedience and how through real obedience, we aren’t limited by our own petty desires, but unlimited by following God.
Long-winded, I know, I know…
