Posted on 06/07/2006 8:25:46 PM PDT by marshmallow
The reference to Flannery O'Connor is apt, as he's a latter day O'Connor character himself: Christ-haunted, toying with grace, which may yet capture him with a terrible, transforming power, or which he may ultimately resist, to his own destruction. Those who're troubled by this post should consider its purpose: not to exalt the author as a moral exemplar, but as an inquiry into the war between good and evil that rages in every human heart wounded by original sin, including ours.
Hope springs eternal, however besides his openly sinful life, his public sacrilege and blasphemy, he is in error about basic truths of the faith:
"It occurred to me that the main point of the story might not be that Abraham was willing to cut his child’s throat, but that God stopped him from doing it. The story illustrates a God that does not require sacrifice — especially of one’s fullest humanity — in order to prove allegiance. I can let myself live whole, and that includes my sexuality."
It appears that, perhaps out of false charity, that no priest has bothered to correct him. Now he not only endangers his own soul, but is free to spread his errors to others in his parish through the apparent approval of his pastor, and to many readers of this article, endangering countless other souls.
And again, I would like to emphasize that his instructor of the faith, his priest and or bishop, those who ignore the duty they have to correct him, are guilty of far greater evil.
Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead."
You said it far better than I could.
If I'm a priest and this man presents himself to me, then I'm faced with a challenge. Here is a man who feels drawn to the Church yet at the same time, is living a lifestyle so at odds with its teaching. However, more importantly he rejects essential elements of Church doctrine.
I can not an must not send him away, but at the same time he may not be admitted as a member who receives Holy Communion. He needs good spiritual direction to accompany him on his journey and with God's grace this could end with his admission to the Church. Not necessarily when he stops sodomizing other men, but when he recognizes and accepts the sinfulness of that act.
As a spiritual dirrector, it would be my challenge to bring him to this realization.
As it is, he's been sold a bill of goods. He's been told "come on in, everything's fine", when he should have been kept outside, placed in intensive care and monitored constantly and vigilantly.
Confirms my belief that sodomites care about nothing but sex. I only read up until the above paragraph, that made me want to hurl alone. He seems very confused morally, obviously struggling between good and evil. He really needs someone morally firm to guide him.
"It occurred to me that the main point of the story might not be that Abraham was willing to cut his child’s throat, but that God stopped him from doing it. The story illustrates a God that does not require sacrifice — especially of one’s fullest humanity — in order to prove allegiance. I can let myself live whole, and that includes my sexuality."
Mental disorder leads to disordered thinking. This is a good example of the reason that people who suffer from SSAD cannot be trusted with responsibilities.
That's what is so very sad about this. It's like mainline Protestantism generally has become. Being a Christian just means . . . what? . . . that you think Jesus was a kinda nice guy? I would like to believe there would be a pastoral response to this article, or perhaps two responses--one to the author and one to the readers. But I don't think there will be any response at all, from priest or bishop.
At first glance I thought, Seasonal Affective Disorder? =D
gotcha.
I hope so, he is searching. I just don't know how many props and crutches he will need to fool himself from here on out. I really get the feeling that he is constantly looking for approval from God for his sin. Apparently his conscience is bothering him or he would'nt be reading all that garbage to tell him things he knows is wrong is right. We all need to pray for him because its obvious the Holy Spririt is working on him.
That alone isn't limited. But there are certain parts of the different doctrines that I do think limits the definition. My point is, because I don't accept any one entire doctrine, I think it would be dishonest to call myself a Catholic or Christian. Meanwhile, there are people who just go through the motions, but there's very little substance to their faith. I'd say the guy in this article qualifies as one of them.
I recently dropped out of an interdenominational Christian group where I had remained on the sidelines for two years allowing others to take the lead because I thought they were true believers. I stood aside, let them give the orders, and I just helped out wherever they wanted. As it turns out, they are buffet-style Christians, picking and choosing, and are even less of believers than I am.
I should add that I left that Christian group over a discussion with the leadership on this very issue: same-sex "marriage". They were in favor of it. There's more to the story, but that's why this article caught my attention.
Spewage.
Ping.
No offense to the Protestants here, but that's exactly what I encountered with one particular Christian group led by a Methodist. There was no substance to their faith. It was an "anything-goes" version of Christianity. Just like you said: the "Jesus was a nice guy" type of faith. I ended up in a long discussion with them wondering why I was there and why I ever subjected my children to their nonsense.
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