Gays at church
A few years before gay marriage became the law of the land, I was in a Baltimore pub having dinner with a Jesuit priest. We were talking about vocation, and I was telling him I wanted to go to graduate university so I could learn how to offer theological arguments in favor of homosexuality.
“And you know”, I told him, “the story of Sodom and Gomorrah isn’t about homosexuality per se, but rape. Even Jesus interprets the cities’ downfall in terms of their inhospitality.”
“Sure”, he said, taking another drink.
“And the biblical laws prohibiting lgbtq+ activity were intended to maximise the population”, I added.
He nodded.
“And Paul’s rhetoric about what goes against nature …”
He cut me off. “Why are you so obsessed with this? You want to focus all your graduate labor on this?”
I didn’t understand the question. I had to point all my attention on this. These were the so-called “clobber passages” that Catholics and Protestants alike have used to marginalise gay people for centuries. I couldn’t just leave them be. I couldn’t just let them go unchallenged.
“Taking on these passa
How Should We Say to the Issue of Homosexuality?
Of the many complexities involving the church and homosexuality, one of the most tough is how the former should say of the latter. Even for those Christians who assent that homosexual apply is contrary to the will of God, there is little agreement on how we ought to speak about it being reverse to the will of God.
Much of this disagreement exists because we have many alternative constituencies in thought when we broach the subject. There are various groups that may be listening when we speak about homosexuality, and the organization we think we are addressing usually dictates how we speak.
- If we are speaking to cultural elites who despise us and our beliefs, we desire to be bold and courageous.
- If we are speaking to strugglers who brawl against same sex attraction, we long to be patient and sympathetic.
- If we are speaking to sufferers who hold been mistreated by the church, we want to be winsome and humble.
- If we are speaking to shaky Christians who seem ready to compromise the faith for society’s approval, we yearn to be persua
Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Roman Catholic Church
BACKGROUND
The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the world, with approximately billion members across the globe. With its origins in the earliest days of Christianity, the Church traces its leadership––in the person of the Pope––to St. Peter, identified by Jesus as “the rock” on which the Church would be built.
The Catholic Church in the United States numbers over 70 million members, and is organized in 33 Provinces, each led by an archbishop. Each bishop answers directly to the Pope, not to an archbishop. Those Provinces are further divided into dioceses, each led by a bishop. At the base of the organizational structure are local parishes, headed by a pastor, appointed by the local bishop. The Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States meets semi-annually.
As part of a global organization with its institutional center at the Vatican, the Catholic Church in America is shaped by worldwide societal and cultural trends. It is further shaped by governance that is entirely male, with w
Same-Sex Attraction
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acknowledges that same-sex attraction is a sensitive issue that requires kindness, caring and understanding. The “Same-Sex Attraction” section of reinforces the reality that, in the words of one Latter-day Saint scripture, God “loveth his children” (1 Nephi ), and seeks to help everyone surpass understand same-sex attraction from a gospel perspective.
The Church does not take a position on the produce of same-sex attraction. In , Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “The Church does not have a position on the causes of any of these susceptibilities or inclinations, including those related to same-gender attraction.”
Feelings of same-sex attraction are not a sin. President M. Russell Ballard said: “Let us be clear: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that ‘the experience of same-sex attraction is a complex actual world for many people. The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is. Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do opt for how to respond to them. With love an