“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’
Why did he change the subject, rather than answer the question directly? He seems to be implicitly accepting the proposition that rejecting someone's acts as immoral is rejecting the person himself.
I'm not impressed.
Your analysis may be more accurate than mine. However, this Pope scares me. I’m Baptist, but anyone who proclaims Jesus as Lord is under attack. In America, we’re seeing people taken to court for their religious beliefs, and military members threatened. We are under attack, and he is acting like our attackers are just in need of a little guidance.
Modern man rejects the concept of sin. In a college class I was in last night, 2/3 of the class voted to legalize prostitution on the basis that people have the right to do what makes them happy, and orgasms make people happy!
We need Ronald Reagan as Pope, not Barry Obama...
I seem to remember that some where, in church and Sunday School I was admonished to “love the sinner and hate the sin.” If I, as a person cannot do that, cannot God? Jesus and God loves us, despite our sins. We have the obligation to repent our sins for salvation. I see the Pope’s words as saying the same thing: God loves each of us, but not our sins. And he was not avoiding the question, but turning it on the hostile questioner, something I remember from logic and rhetoric class in college 45 years ago and have used it when appropriate.
He could have just said, “Hate the sin, love the sinner.” And tell the sinner to go and sin no more. This is the part that always breaks the deal though.