“Gays Can Be Priests; But Marriage Should Be Between a Man and a Woman.”

Last updated on: July 6, 2011 at 9:23 am by John Shore

“Gays Can Be Priests; But Marriage Should Be Between a Man and a Woman.” 2011-07-06T09:23:45-08:00 John Shore

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Below is an email I got in last week. I’m sharing it with you (with the writer’s permission, of course) because I think it so perfectly captures so much of what those who believe in full Christian acceptance of gays are up against. This woman reflects everything with which the historical Christian church has for so long been inculcating people that they now think it’s natural to their natures. And yet you can see that this woman feels profoundly uncomfortable with the Christian proscription of homosexuality. Her letter evidences the struggle she’s experiencing between her heart and her brain, between her intuitive compassion and her loyalty to what she’s been taught. She’s trying to figure out what’s right. I believe she will.

Dear John,

HA … a “Dear John” letter~! Sorry, you must get that a lot, but I couldn’t resist. I must preface this by saying that I’m not very worldly at all, meaning that I was raised in a strict household, with very little opportunity to socialize with my peers. I point this out because I feel very isolated, unversed and plain uneducated in what’s going on in the world, politics, and the homosexual discussion, in general.

I am a Roman Catholic who came back to the faith after a lifetime of rejecting the church, tried to be “spiritual,” but not adhering to any form of religion. I never seek to enter the above mentioned discussions because in general I have conservative views, and they clash with my friends’ views. To be truthful, at first I believed same sex marriage should not be legalized; but on the other hand, I realize that the issue would not, or might not, have come up in the first place, if the government (I’m in America) recognized their relationship, and extended them the same rights as married heterosexual couples. I think this issue could be resolved if the government would just give them the same rights and benefits.

As a Catholic, however, I firmly believe “marriage” should be defined as between a man and a woman. I have this belief not because it’s written down in black and white, but because I am a part of what is known as a Sacramental Marriage and the belief there, as I’m sure you’re already aware, is that God is present in the marriage; and for this specific conversation, is present in the marriage bed where the couple is to remain open to making a child. Making a child is the closest we, as humans, can come to creating life as God creates life. I know that statement is far from being a good one because we cannot and should not seek to create as God creates, but I leave it in because I don’t have the words to express my thoughts accurately. Creating, loving the children we make, raising them. In doing so, we glorify God.

John, I’ve had both: a marriage that did not have God as a participant, and this one, where God is definitely a participant. Two radically different experiences. I do much prefer this one. My conviction comes from my soul, from knowing this is what is right. Our son was a miracle, and we believe that God placed him in our lives, when we thought having a family would never happen (long story).

Now, I’m not saying that homosexuals are not capable of having committed, meaningful relationships. I do believe that they should be allowed to serve God in the Catholic church as priests if they want to. It’s sad, it’s tragic, it’s majestically unjust that the Church cannot address properly the crisis going on with priest pedophiles and those preying on their flock. It sickens me to know that the Vatican is protecting these criminals. It sickens me that they’re projecting a phobic fear onto the homosexual community. I know this is a tangent off the conversation, but the church should realize this is a sickness, and not in any way related to homosexuality. They are not acknowledging that they dropped the ball when accepting these men into the priesthood.

Incidentally, I am also sickened by our bloody history, but that’s the human element showing itself to be so unreliable, so tainted. How can we really trust anything that comes out of the vatican … whole other tangent.

Getting back to my prior thought that I am not saying that homosexuals are not capable of having committed, meaningful relationships. Before they sought to get married, there were civil unions. My personal belief is that the civil union should be enough — then we go back to the fact that they want to get married, and be Christians. And, as I say, I do think they should be allowed to serve as priests. So I guess I still have so many questions about where I stand on the homosexual issue. I will keep praying to God to give me the right answers to this.

Christian Issues

LGBT and Christianity

Previous Post

July 5, 2011

Time to Get Your Clark Kent On?

Next Post

July 6, 2011 Obey Rob Bell In His Most Recent Sermon: Give It Up For Me

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Dear John En Espanol Everywhere She's Not Humor Look See Pastor Bob's Corner Personal Portuguese Relationships Russian Short-short story Smith Family Chronicles Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2024 August 2022 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 June 2019 December 2018 May 2018 May 2017 January 2017 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the Israelites put on their doorposts during Passover?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Incense Gold dust Olive oil Lamb’s blood

Books by This Author Books by John Shore

See All Titles »