For the Catholic Church to be considered welcoming they have to jettison any teachings about morality that a potential member might be uncomfortable with?
I understand where you are coming from and what you are saying. However, don’t underestimate how much kids on the spectrum suffer. My son was rejected by his parental grandparents because he couldn’t express the love they wanted from their grandchild. My son has had two death threats, and I lost many of my friends when DS first received his diagnosis because they didn’t want his bad behaviors (due to his autism spectrum disorder) to rub off on their kids. Trust me, I have had more bad parenting comments said to me than I care to discuss or remember. Often, people with the same spectrum diagnosis differ so greatly that they cannot even share common experiences with each other. One thing about the SSA community is that they seem to be able to make and keep friends who are also SSA. That does not substitute for the hurt you endured, and it cannot wipe away your hurt. But do know that I am happy you have others to turn to.
I know that you mean well, Bob, but your response really does trivialize the experiences of many LGBT people, especially young people. We’re not just talking about “potential members,” we’re talking about children and young adults. And we’re not just talking about church teachings (or at least how many people interpret those teachings) causing these children and young adults to feel a little “uncomfortable.” We’re talking about real pain and suffering, a pain and suffering that many of these young people feel that they must bear alone and in secret. Under the circumstances, it’s probably not a surprise, as reported in the Wikipedia article on “Suicide among LGBT youth,” that “LGBT teens and young adults have one of the highest rates of suicide attempts.” According to research carried out by the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University:
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center has estimated “that between 30 and 40% of LGBT youth, depending on age and sex groups, have attempted suicide.”
So My expressing my first-hand experience is trivializing while you expressing your personal experience must be taken as gospel and indicative of the experiences of all homosexual people .?
It is trivializing to use words like “potential member” and “uncomfortable”. It downplays the fact that we are talking about young people and it downplays the real suffering that many of these LGBT young people experience, suffering that is often inflicted on them by other Christians and even by their own family members.
Rather than address the substance of my post you attacked me. The point remains that it appears that you believe the only way the Catholic Church can be welcoming of homosexuals is to drop their teachings on the sinfulness of homosexuality .
No one has said that there has been an increase in suicide among LGBT youth. But in the past, this was not being tracked or reported.
So it’s important that these people know that they need not cope with their situation “alone”, with no support. There can be individuals in their lives who can help them. And their is organisational support available. But there need be no implication that, even in a perfect world, they would naturally share their feelings publicly. We all have inclinations and tendencies we keep to ourselves, though I readily acknowledge that few are as impactful as SSA.
Would you be willing to consider that SSA may be co-morbid with depression and/or self-esteem issues? The reason I ask is that there have been studies done on depression/suicide of SSA people in very liberal and accepting countries like Denmark. Oddly, the statistics do not differ all that much from here in the U.S. That has always been a puzzlement to me.
See…that doesn’t make sense.
The problem is in the use of language and terms, not in the substance of reality that the terms seek to describe. To be attracted to something (or to experience an emotion) is plainly not the same as embracing it or partaking in it. See for instance post #74 on the following thread:
His experiences are merely his own but I have also said that tinder really is a hook up app. People seem to ignore the explosion of hook up culture among everyone. Funny among my friends it is the gays that do no drugs lol! I will agree though that when you are not allowed to form a family etc it may lead to the person just living like a great party hence why being supportive of families should always be a good thing.
Whether or not anyone is “not allowed” to form a family is debatable. Some are not able to realise that goal, for one reason or another. Hopefully, most of us have supportive families, whether or not we have a spouse and children.… I will agree though that when you are not allowed to form a family etc it may lead to the person just living like a great party hence why being supportive of families should always be a good thing.
I really don’t think anyone is faced with a choice of either getting married and having a family for having to spend their life partying .His experiences are merely his own but I have also said that tinder really is a hook up app. People seem to ignore the explosion of hook up culture among everyone. Funny among my friends it is the gays that do no drugs lol! I will agree though that when you are not allowed to form a family etc it may lead to the person just living like a great party hence why being supportive of families should always be a good thing.
No, but when getting married and having a family is essentially closed off to you (especially in our society which almost idoltrizes the nuclear family and marriage), one might become disheartened and feel alone to the point where they say why not just party with the mentality of at least it partially covers up the pain.
First, the UK dude was off-color. Surprised he wasn’t fired. Second, I will be the first to admit that I know nothing about the hook-up culture as it stands today. My husband and I are probably extreme outliers on that front.
It’s more of trying to keep its parishioners in line. An April 2015 Pew poll showed that 6 out of 10 US Catholics support gay marriage. US Catholics grew up learning that we, in our vast numbers, make up the church. And we were also taught that the Holy Spirit will guide us if we let him shine within us. He is our direct link to the Father. I still teach this to my RE students today. With that background, you can understand why many US Catholics break from the church on a few issues. What worse? Allowing two consenting adults in love to enter into a legal commitment of marriage or subjecting them to legal, cultural, financial and personal torments that make their day to day lives hell. Do we sew love or torment? It’s a no brainer. No Catholic leader, no church law, no tradition trumps the wave of love and acceptance released by the Holy Spirit.
And no concern for the immortal souls of those two consenting adults?