Posted on 06/18/2014 12:16:25 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
When I became Catholic in 1998, as a college sophomore, I didn't know any other gay Christians. I'd been raised in a kind of pointillist Reform Judaism...
This sheltered upbringing may help explain my sunny undergraduate confidence that even though I knew of literally nobody else who had ever tried to be both unashamedly gay and obediently Catholic, I was totally going to do it. No problem, guys, I got this.
[snip]
[M]any Christian churches are beginning to integrate gay marriage into their theology... With so many more options for gay Christians, why [not] just de-pope myself?
It's that I fell in love with the Catholic Church....I didn't switch from atheistic post-Judaism to "belief in God," but to Catholicism: the Incarnation and the Crucifixion...her insistence that seemingly irreconcilable needs could both be met in God's overwhelming love: justice and mercy, reason and mystery, a savior who is fully God and also fully human. I didn't expect to understand every element of the faith. It is a lot bigger than I am.
[snip]
At the time of my baptism...I figured, everybody has to sacrifice something. God doesn't promise that He'll only ask you for the sacrifices you agree with and understand.
[snip]
Right now, the Biblical witness seems pretty clear. Both opposite-sex and same-sex love are used, in the Bible, as images of God's love. The opposite-sex love is found in marriage—sexually exclusive marriage, an image which recurs not only in the Song of Songs but in the prophets and in the New Testament—and the same-sex love is friendship. Both of these forms of love are considered real and beautiful; neither is better than the other. But they're not interchangeable.
Moreover, Genesis names sexual difference as the only difference which was present in Eden...
(Much more at link)
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Great article. My 2 cents:
Any unrepentant sinner is doomed for hell. That’s it, class dismissed.
Oxymoron = Gay Christian
Does she expound on this? I don't see it.
However, I think most Atlantic readers get that the Catholic Church has --- I dunno --- something around in there somewhere about whaddaya call it? God? And God's law against lustful sin? They might have taken comparative religion in their Freshman year. They might intuit that. Of course, some don't make the connection.
In any case, she didn't have to lay out every chapter and verse of Romans and the whole Catechism to boot. She was just aiming to explain (to an Atlantic readership, mind you, which probably is more inclined to throw bouquets at lesbians, and bricks at Catholics) that she's an out-of-the-closet Catholic and she has her reasons.
She's not asking to be applauded for being gay. She's asking to be understood that she's chosen chastity, for Christ's sake.
Doesn't work for you? Sorry about that.
yes, and blessed are they that call light darkness and darkness light, and they that call good evil and evil good... the brave new world welcomes you with open arms, enter into the peace of the way of the world.
I think it’s a good thing that Eve Tushnet can explain to a secular audience what she’s choosing chastity. She didn’t get the a-la-carte menu. She’s eating at the Captain’s table.
I don't because I'm not. Temptations are not sinful. Acting or dwelling on such temptations is. In that vein, this woman is not a "practicing" homosexual. She has left behind those sinful acts but the attraction remains.
This is a subtle but very important difference.
You obviously did not read the rest of her statement:
"The opposite-sex love is found in marriage—sexually exclusive marriage, an image which recurs not only in the Song of Songs but in the prophets and in the New Testament—and the same-sex love is friendship."
Since Jesus talked extensively about the love of friends ("Greater love has no man than that he lay down his life for his friends"), I think you may want to retract your statement...
Beautifully said
“Oxymoron = Gay Christian”
Bingo. Either you’re a pious Christian battling lustful, sinful thoughts and deeds...or you’re a free-wheeling heretic. God’s Law is very clear on this.
Miss Tushy-net obviously forgot about the Act of Contrition she supposedly accepts as a “dutiful Catholic”.
“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because they offend Thee, my God...”
This sheltered upbringing may help explain my sunny undergraduate confidence that even though I knew of literally nobody else who had ever tried to be both unashamedly gay and obediently Catholic, I was totally going to do it. No problem, guys, I got this. Things look different now.
Her moral strength comes from her moral strength.
How does it go? “To those who have, more will be given.”
Read the article. The author admits to same-sex attraction, but recognizes that to be a Christian requires her to abstain from acting on those temptations. So while I strongly object to anyone who is actively engaging in a homosexual relationship calling themselves a Christian, I don't have a problem with this person doing so, any more than I would object to a former prostitute or a reformed alcoholic doing so. All have been involved in temptations and sins in their past, and all have chosen to resist those temptations and abstain from those sins for the cause of Christ. I think she refers to herself as a "gay" Christian because she did not lose her same-sex attractions when she became a Christian, and so she has to struggle with those temptations still.
Although I understand your point regarding self-identifying as a “Gay” Christian, I do think many are being too hard on this woman. I’m not in full agreement with all that she has said in this article, but I do respect her for going against the grain.
“She’s not asking to be applauded for being gay. She’s asking to be understood that she’s chosen chastity, for Christ’s sake.”
I’m not going to battle “wits” with somebody who continues to use the Lord’s name in vein. But I will leave you with this passage from 1 Corinthians 6:18...
“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”
She wants people to know where she's coming from, like a gal who says she's a shopaholic but she has decided she's no longer going to spend that any money on any of that kind of stuff.
Context is important.
Read the article. She still has same-sex attractions, but is abstinent and chaste because of the Biblical prohibition of homosexual acts - even though she admits she does not fully understand, she knows that having a relationship with God is more important than fulfilling her sexual desires.
Gay Christians? If we just love them and be their friend? Did you read the article?
If we love them, we will speak the TRUTH to them. that is what love is but they are NOT going to like you if you do. Hate the sin and love the sinner is NOT biblical. That is a quote from Gandhi.
Jesus wasn’t afraid to offend. He spoke the truth and then said go and sin no more. He didn’t chase anyone. Jesus came to divide. There is no middle ground.
We like the baby Jesus, but the LION OF JUDAH is another matter.
Interesting article. Thank you for posting. I pray more people find their way to Christ.
I’m (also) attracted to women who are not my wife. Statement of fact. Does this mean I am also not seeking God?
I have the same problem you do but I do not hate Christs Church enough to want to defile it.
The only Church members in acts was those who would and could give their all to the church.
How can you give your all to the church if you are eyeing all of the pretty women or worse (puke ) another man?
The Church, for hundreds of years has redefined the meaning of Church member, most so called Church members of today are no more fit than I am to be a Church member.
Why don`t the Church leaders read acts to define what is meant to be a Church member?
And I really don`t know that I should worry about it since I don`t really believe it is any longer Christs Church but more likely the great whore of Babylon.
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