Posted on 09/06/2014 11:35:22 AM PDT by NYer
I warmly recommend to the readership a column by Francis Card. George, Archbishop of Chicago. His Eminence knocks this one over the fence.
We enter in medias res. You can find the whole thing HERE:
[...]
In recent years, society has brought social and legislative approval to all types of sexual relationships that used to be considered sinful. Since the biblical vision of what it means to be human tells us that not every friendship or love can be expressed in sexual relations, the churchs teaching on these issues is now evidence of intolerance for what the civil law upholds and even imposes. What was once a request to live and let live has now become a demand for approval. The ruling class, those who shape public opinion in politics, in education, in communications, in entertainment, is using the civil law to impose its own form of morality on everyone. We are told that, even in marriage itself, there is no difference between men and women, although nature and our very bodies clearly evidence that men and women are not interchangeable at will in forming a family. Nevertheless, those who do not conform to the official religion, we are warned, place their citizenship in danger.
When the recent case about religious objection to one provision of the Health Care Act was decided against the State religion, the Huffington Post (June 30, 2014) raised concerns about the compatibility between being a Catholic and being a good citizen. This is not the voice of the nativists who first fought against Catholic immigration in the 1830s. Nor is it the voice of those who burned convents and churches in Boston and Philadelphia a decade later. Neither is it the voice of the Know-Nothing Party of the 1840s and 1850s, nor of the Ku Klux Klan, which burned crosses before Catholic churches in the Midwest after the civil war. It is a voice more sophisticated than that of the American Protective Association, whose members promised never to vote for a Catholic for public office. This is, rather, the selfrighteous voice of some members of the American establishment today who regard themselves as progressive and enlightened.
The inevitable result is a crisis of belief for many Catholics. Throughout history, when Catholics and other believers in revealed religion have been forced to choose between being taught by God or instructed by politicians, professors, editors of major newspapers and entertainers, many have opted to go along with the powers that be. This reduces a great tension in their lives, although it also brings with it the worship of a false god. It takes no moral courage to conform to government and social pressure. It takes a deep faith to swim against the tide, as Pope Francis recently encouraged young people to do at last summers World Youth Day.
Swimming against the tide means limiting ones access to positions of prestige and power in society. It means that those who choose to live by the Catholic faith will not be welcomed as political candidates to national office, will not sit on editorial boards of major newspapers, will not be at home on most university faculties, will not have successful careers as actors and entertainers. Nor will their children, who will also be suspect. Since all public institutions, no matter who owns or operates them, will be agents of the government and conform their activities to the demands of the official religion, the practice of medicine and law will become more difficult for faithful Catholics. It already means in some States that those who run businesses must conform their activities to the official religion or be fined, as Christians and Jews are fined for their religion in countries governed by Sharia law.
[...]
Outstanding!
Fr. Z kudos to Card. George!
Ping!
It’s also become a demand for access to your children.
LOVE your bishopric backbone graphic.
They’re demanding more than approval. They’re demanding participation.
Very Good Father John Zuhlsdorf!
Thanks and God Bless!
goes to show what happens when you abandon your principals
The perverts who demanded tolerance are the most intolerant of all. If you are not celebrating their disgusting activities with all your heart you are a homophobe and must be destroyed. I’m quite sick of them and am not afraid to say so.
So quit sugar-coatin' it and tell us how you REALLY feel.
The Government the homosexuals whomever, can demand approval of/for the homosexuals and my position will remain the same as it always has been. NO! I do not approve. It is a sin against God and nature. It is a perversion and an illness. I will not become an enabler.......
Boy, do I know what you're feeling.
Been there myself, recently.
Everybody’s been there!
And of course by demanding approval/participation they kill any feelings of live and let live that may still be out there in the general populace.
They like being victims though so that doesn’t really bother them.
It's the old adage: "Give them an inch, they will take a mile."
Exactly!!
"What happens behind closed doors is nobody's business"
Now, it's in your face homo bullying, in our Schools, on our TV & in Movies, in our News, in our Businesses & in our Sports!
We must now accept homosexual anal worship as normal?
I don't think so.
We believers know God will never bless homosexual sin. It’s a fact of faith.
We have Good News to share with ungodly people, that God is not counting their sins against them! Shocking but true. The work they must do is to believe in the one He has sent, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of ALL their sins! with no merit on their part AT ALL. Free gift. Justified by faith just as “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness”.
Why don’t people want this? Hardness of heart, sure. But also that we don’t preach it? Or believe it ourselves? The Law was given so that sin might increase! It works! The grace of God in Christ frees us from the penalty and power of the law. With our Lord Jesus, we no longer are under supervision of a tutor. He “is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes”.
We try to do the Spirit’s job of convicting the world. None of our business! We proclaim the Truth and He works salvation. Praise Him.
Somebody needs to make real croziers like that.
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