Engaging Fr Martin

Let’s say Gary and Larry are homosexual and are in a long term, loving partnership. We can admit that two men might love one another. This is a natural and good thing. This is called friendship. We can admit that some men are not attracted to women and that this might cause them loneliness and hardship. We can sympathize. There are many people who are lonely both within and outside marriage. We can admit that Larry and Gary’s need for companionship and friendship might lead them to be room mates. We can allow that their friendship is a beautiful and long lasting thing.

However, we also advise them that it is wrong for two men to have sexual intercourse.

In fact the Catholic rule on sex is as simple as can be, and it doesn’t even have anything to do with homosexuality or heterosexuality.

It’s like this: “Do you have a friend who is someone other than your spouse? Great. Friendship can be wonderful. Some friendships can be disastrous.

Be friends. Fine. But you’re not to have sexual intercourse with that person. That’s a serious sin. You’re only supposed to have sexual intercourse with a person to whom you are properly married.

This is Catholicism. It’s something objective. Because it is objective about some things it can be flexible and “pastoral” about others. This is nothing new.

While there are shades of gray there is also black and white because you wouldn’t have gray if there were no such thing as black and white.

Most unfortunate about Fr Martin’s article is that he falls into the trap of playing the hate card. Anybody who disagrees with his agenda must be a hater. So he writes:

Fourth, even darker reasons for the anger: a hatred of LGBT Catholics that masks itself as a concern for their souls, a desire to shut out divorced and remarried because they are “sinful” and should be excluded from the church’s communion, and a self-righteousness and arrogance that closes one off to the need for mercy. Also, a mere dislike of change because it threatens the black-and-white worldview.

I expect there are some Catholics who do “hate” LGBT people”, but I haven’t met any. It suits Fr Martin, however, to pump up the hate speech because it’s easy to hate the haters. Consequently by pumping up the hate speech he raises the level of hatred.

Those who pump up the accusations of hate pump up hate.

They should be reminded that not everyone who disagrees with the LGBT agenda is a bigoted, self righteous, legalistic hater.

Bullying others by calling them self righteous, legalistic haters weakens one’s position.

Fr Martin is smart. He should be better than that.

Return to first page

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos