Hey, I dare you to come up with a real answer for or against. I am willing to bet that you can't do it. I am sure that you can come up with answers that you have heard somewhere else, but do you have one of your own? OK, so you do have one, are you brave enough to put it in writing? Now, stop looking for one that you think will be safe. You have nothing to worry about, we are only attracting about 10 to 13 people per day. Oh, I get it, you're waiting to waive the rainbow flag until when we are really influencing the entire planet. Good thinking.Before you get the nerve to answer, let me let you in on a secret. Years ago, many years ago, more than 50 years ago, when I was in school in Rome, my classmates from many countries and I spent several after supper conversations discussing this very topic. We would stroll back and forth on the roof top, enjoying the plush caress of sister moon while we would discuss matters of grave importance to the moral life of the universe. We were not exploring the political dimensions of homosexual marriage. Oh, no, not us. We were talking theology here. We were talking about the guidance we would give to someone in the confessional on these matters. We were dead serious.
I often think about these conversations/discussions when I here the likes of David Boies spouting off about the merits of homosexual marriage. Sometimes I feel like he should call me on the telephone and ask me my opinion. He might be surprised. I might be too. You might be too.
Actually, I found myself on the side of exclusive, permanent relationships in most of these conversations. Remember, there was no concept of "gay marriage" back then, and most certainly not next door to the Vatican! Phewww! My Brazilian classmates tended to lean the same way, while the Italians and Spanish would often opt out of the discussion and just listen. The guys from Madagascar would take either side to keep the flames going because they couldn't figure out what all the hoopla and mystery was all about. They knew it is a sin, but hey, live together as "brother and sister"and no cruisin' and that's cool. That was a little far out for most of us from "European style" cultures, but hey, that's what the idea for the conversation was, right?
In the interest of full disclosure, I don't ever remember a single time, and there were quite a few, that the inclusion of adopted children ever entered the give and take. I know where I am on that now. I wonder where I would have been then.
So, where are you on this one?
Hi there (from your technically impaired brother)
ReplyDeleteSince I don't know how to respond directly to the blog, I'm responding directly by regular e-mail.(obviously)
On same sex marriage.
The issue of Same Sex Marriage is very different from homosexuality. Let me go on record immediately as against it...BUT with a bit of waffling. When it comes to marriage I have some very different views than the Church. I'm surprised I haven't been excommunicated yet! First let me address heterosexual marriage and the issue of divorce. No one, no one should have to stay in an abusive marriage, whether the abuse is physical, mental or verbal. I'm also at odds about the "birth control" issue but I don't need to get into that. Now, as for same sex marriage, as I've stated, I am against it. Not because it is impossible to produce children. Adoption is always an option. I'm against it because it is not natural and because most homosexual people are only getting married so they can receive benefits and not because of the love that exists between them. (My opinion with no statistics to back this statement). With all that being said, I add in the mix the fact that I also believe God wants all of us to be happy, to experience JOY and LOVE every day of our lives. After all, He IS love and joy. I hope you can follow me through these statements. Homosexuality is not a choice a person makes. It is an unnatural inclination due to an unnatural balance of the human chemistry. I have a daughter who suffers from an unusual balance of chemistry due to a genetic error. Either gene #9 or gene #16 is not producing the enzyme M-TOR. In the "normal" person, M-TOR inhibits the production of tumors within our body. Without it, or as in my daughter's case, less than there should be, tumors grow freely on all her internal organs, some prior to birth, some later in life; some are benign and don't make much of a difference in her life, while others are life threatening and some cause learning disabilities. She didn't ask for this, however her life style is way different than the "normal" person. Should a person, male or female, with this same disorder, marry and have children, knowing with each child the chance of that child being born with the same disorder is 50-50. Throw all of that at a prospective husband or wife and see how fast they get outta Dodge. Should she marry, should she not marry? Should she have children, should she not? How about, two people, who really, really like each other, or yes, love each other, simply living together. That makes having sex together, their own choice and answerable to their own conscience. Catholic marriage is Sacramental and is a partnership with a man, a woman and Jesus as the 3rd partner. That formula excludes same sex marriages and the formula is not about to change. Civil marriage, however, is a horse of a different color and in the eyes of the Church, the couple is not really married. They're just living together like so many other heterosexual couples today. The only benefit then, to the same sex couple, is that they get to file jointly on their income tax, and that's none of my business anyway.
Now you understand why we spent some time gabbing back and forth about this on the Roman roof-top. Marriage is a many splendored thing, and one of its splendors is being a civil, legal, contractual agreement. I did vote against Proposition 8 in California.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, all you have to do is to click on the word "comment" at the foot of the posted article and type away.
It was fun reading your reflections.