In the last week, Bishops have issued edicts on all sorts of topics:
US Bishops: Homosexual Inclination is "Intrinsically Disordered" Act is "Evil"
Calgary Bishop Calls for Public Input on Same-Sex Marriage Decision
US Bishops Approve Letter Telling of the Harm of Contraception
US Bishops Instruct: No Communion for Those Who Oppose Catholic Teaching on Life and Family
The clerical interest in what goes on in people's bedrooms must be leading to all sorts of unhealthy speculation among these people as they sit about in their cassocks.
Per se, not being Catholic myself, I certainly don't consider myself to be bound by any of these, nor do I find the notion of refusing communion to be a particular threat to myself.
However, two of these are plays into the political sphere of both Canada and the United States, and that does affect me. In recent years, politicians in both countries have been repeatedly threatened with denial of communion or excommunication because of their stance on various legislative issues. I find this to be little more than a form of blackmail, and a particularly odious form at that. It essentially says "do as the Church dictates, or we will cut you off".
Bishop Henry's latest foray into Canada's politics is once again into the discussion around SGM. He's calling for "study" of what the "probable impact" of SGM on Canadian society might be.
Among his worries:
"Prior to doing so, following the initiative of the National Assembly of France, to ensure an intelligent and responsible vote, he should create a task force or commission to produce a Parliamentary Report on the Family and the Rights of the Child."
...
"We need to draw a clear distinction between the public institution of marriage and other voluntary relationships. The marital bond is different because of its stability, the environment it provides for the development of families, and the protection its accords spouses and children."
Bishop Henry acknowledged the "extraordinary sacrifices" that many single parents undertake in order to raise their children, saying a "just and compassionate" society must support such families, but he said such support "is far different than deliberately creating motherless and fatherless families by establishing same sex unions."
"Prohibiting "same sex marriage" is not unjust discrimination. Most Canadians agree that homosexual persons must be treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity because all human beings are equal in their intrinsic dignity. It is wrong to discriminate against persons, but it is right and necessary to distinguish between different kinds of relationships."
Now, really, let's be rational. Gays and Lesbians have been "out" since the late 1960s when homosexual acts were removed from the criminal code. That means we have nearly forty years of gay families running around this nation. I don't really need to point out that those families haven't exactly caused the world to stop turning, or anything else. Some of those families have been raising children - adoptive or otherwise - and it's not like there's any evidence that those children are maladjusted or anything like that.
As for his fears about "creating motherless or fatherless families" by enabling SGM in law, he's simply blowing smoke. Families without a mother, or without a father, happen all the time, and have happened throughout history. It is the height of arrogant stupidity to assert that allowing gays and lesbians to be legally married is going to impact that reality in any significant manner. (Notably, prohibiting SGM hasn't stopped single parent families; it hasn't stopped lesbians from having children, nor gay men from having children by past relationships or surrogate parents.)
As for the American Bishops and their declaration that homosexuality is "Intrinsically Disordered", my only comment is that this bunch of pedophile-enabling twits need to get out of the pseudo-Freudian pop psychology business. The simple reality is that there is no evidence that homosexuals are "disordered" as a result of their sexuality.
1 comment:
Unfortunately, Bishops like Fred Henry in Calgary are injecting their views into the political discourse of the land, and using "denial of communion" edicts as a form of blackmail against catholic politicians.
If it was only within the confines of the church, I'd ignore it. It isn't - there is a very active campaign afoot to impose their dogma by the force of law.
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