Sorry I am all over the map, but I do not have the time to edit my writing or I would never be able to post anything. Granted, if these were papers submitted for my college classes, I would have done poorly—and I am sure I have plenty of spelling and grammar errors, also.
I do not judge other people. I leave that to God. My expertise is in child development and the way children learn and I have little tolerance for people who try to destroy the innocence of childhood. I have even less respect for feminist ideology which is responsible for the deaths of millions of babies and the destruction of emotionally healthy children and contributed greatly to the disintegration of the family unit.
I am an imperfect Catholic (like everyone else), but think that Christian thought combined with Western Civilization, esp. as evolved through the Catholic Saints, have given us the most perfect blueprint for happiness, ever in the history of the earth.
I do believe in the freedom of association and the writings of St. Paul:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature[a]will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.
everything that does not come from faith is sin.
This is my all time favorite:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Now see, that was beautiful.
Here are three thoughts:
First, I believe in my heart of hearts that the corruption of children as a means for intentionally furthering the homosexual lifestyle, while most probably NOT non-existant...is probably a minor (less than 10%), phenomenon...and yes, it is wrong, criminal and sinful.
Second, I am not a Baptist. If I were, I could quote chapter and verse of both the old and the new testament. I am a Catholic as well and we are notoriously bad at remembering the Bible. As a result, I am left with the emotional impression which is the reflection of collective reading. As I learned Paul and reflected on his life, I found him the embodiment of the old adage “Converts make the biggest zealots.”
Paul does nothing half way...and in the process, while he is bold, he certainly does not bring to Christ the love of the little children that Christ deeply admired. I believe in Paul’s zeal, is a loss of both nuance and subtle understanding. He delivers the bold buttresses of a cathedral, yet Christ taught us that you can make a church with children, a rock and an open field.
Third, I know this is hard to believe or fathom or grasp regarding this passage:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
I have met loving gay couples who exemplify this passage and in one case, exemplified the passage more than any other couple, straight or gay, that I have ever met. I was truly amazed. They were not pedophiles. They sought not to corrupt or coopt children. They only sought to live within these words in a world which felt they were to debased to even have access to these words. I do not believe that Christ would condemn them nor curb their lives so they could not be fully lived at the same level as others.
No group of people is all bad. No segment of society should be ostricized because of the worse criminal nature of a small subset among them. Hard working black mothers and grandmothers struggle every day to raise their children on meager subsistance. They should not have their opportunities curbed to reflect the activity of inner city gangbangers whose use of drugs and violence predominates news reporting. Loving gay men and women who only seek to do a competent, professional job and live and love in freedom and peace, should not have their lives limited to the rights and access of the worst pedophile who may be a small subset of their world.
All I am saying is that these are things for us to think about and reflect on...