I have yet to see very many posts that describe what you say, most read like they are posted by homosexual men looking for a way to still be considered Catholic, or middle aged men that are looking for ways to feel better after masturbating to some type of porn. Perhaps they should be attending confession and working with their priests on these issues to REALLY overcome them.
The reality is that sex however important or unimportant it really is, It is on every single forum page on this site, I’m just saying I think its a bit excessive. This should be a Catholic Answers Forum, not the Catholic Sex Asvisor.
And that’s my point. MANY people struggle with these issues. Of COURSE they are looking for a way to justify sin–don’t YOU do the same thing when you give in to a temptation? Don’t YOU try to rationalize your sin and try to figure out a way that it isn’t really a sin, just a weakness or a physical urge or whatever.
Hopefully most Christians will eventually come to a place where they stop rationalizing or looking for affirmation of their sin, and they will admit that the Church and the Bible are correct and they will repent and seek reconciliation.
But some people aren’t at that place yet. They’re still seeking answers and trying desperately to hold onto their sin in the hopes that maybe it really isn’t sin, just a lifestyle or a genetic tendency or an environmental consequence. It’s just human to try to pass the blame along and not accept personal responsibility.
Yes, perhaps they really SHOULD attend Confession and work with a priest. But they aren’t ready yet! Everything and everyone in our culture tells them repeatedly that they aren’t sinning, that they’re normal and that it’s the CHURCH that is wrong! This kind of pressure is really hard to resist. If you don’t think it’s hard to resist, perhaps you are removed from it in some way. But most of us live in a world where every message from all forms of media, and all of the people we are with everyday at work or school or in social settings say that “anything goes.”
And when a believer tries to argue that there is a right and wrong, we are told to clean our own house first and fix our pervert priests. That shuts us up fast. It’s hard to stand up to this because it’s kind of true.
Doesn’t it tell you something that in spite of ALL the charisms given to them, along with the Holy Spirit’s extra work in their lives, and the sacrament of Holy Orders conferred upon them and the powerful prayers of Our Lady and saints like St. John Vianney and St. Anthony of Padua, that our priests STILL struggle with sexual temptations and give in to these temptations, even the most vile of these temptations?
Sexual temptations are darn powerful! We are foolish if we do not take these temptations very seriously and recognize their allure.
If a priest gives in, how much more likely it it that a layperson will give in, especially since most of us are, by necessity (job and family responsibilities), immersed in the world with all its lures?
Sexual sin is very real and more pervasive then we can conceive. To ignore it is like ignoring a pride of hungry lions in your house. Ignoring it isn’t the way to deal with the lions. It is surprising that more threads on CAF are not about sexual topics.
I think that a lot of the people on this board, especially homosexuals, are trying with all their hearts to find a way to avoid their nagging conscience and the Holy Spirit’s constant conviction in their hearts. Hopefully through discussions on CAF, they will gradually become more and more convinced that their sexual sins really are abhorent in the Eyes of the Lord, and they will repent and be reconciled and turn from their sin.
And those who aren’t beset with sexual sins must be patient and loving (yes, sometimes that love will be tough love!) with these fellow Christians. After all, we are all beset with sins of our own and would like to have others who don’t share our weakness treat us with patience and love.
