You Don't Agree With Me? BIGOT!!!

Today I saw a story about pro-gay students wanting the Catholic priest at George Washington University fired for his anti-gay and anti-abortion preaching.  Aside from the fact that it is his job to preach the teachings of the Church, it should be noted that the Catholic Church is NOT anti-gay.  Not in it's teachings, not in its positions.

Here is the Catholic Church's position on homosexuality, as found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,¹⁴¹ tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”¹⁴² They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

No where, in that writing, does it say that we, as Catholics, should be anti-gay or that we discriminate against gay people. No, instead we are called to be respectful, compassionate, and sensitive.  So why then, am I a bigot because I don't think gays should be able to marry?  Why am I a bigot just because I don't think their lifestyle is proper?

I have been called a homophobe on many occasions.  According to Wikipedia, a phobia is, a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational.  So by definition, if I have homophobia, I have a persistent fear of homosexual people.  Going back to Wikipedia to get a definition of homophobia, it is defined as  encompassing a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

It seems to me that a word's base meaning was changed to create a label for people who do not agree with something.  So to be clear, not agreeing with someone and believing something different than them should not label them.  Disagreeing with homosexual ideology does not make someone a homophobe.  I guess then, if I am a homophobe, then gays must be heterophobes.

Now let's look the other popular word being thrown at folks who don't agree with gay marriage or any other "gay rights" issues.  Bigot seems to be thrown at anyone who doesn't cave to the will of the liberal agenda, no matter what it is. 

The World English Dictionary defines a bigot as a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, esp on religion, politics, or race.

That definition just described every person who has called me a bigot.  By that definition, I can say that most of my conservative friends, are not.  I have often stated my position on gay marriage, abortion, gun rights, etc and been called a bigot, homophobe, whatever have you.  I actually listen to the other side of the story, try to understand it, but still don't agree.  However, the other side of the story, is intolerant of my view and calls me names.  It seems a bit odd that the folks callign me a bigot seem to be the truest form of the word.

My Church is not perfect, we have had and still do have our issues.  One thing remains true, we are inclusive and love everyone.  What makes us seem intolerant and discriminatory is that we expect the members to follow the rules of the Church, not have the rules tailored to the members.  If you don't like the rules, stay out of the church and leave it alone.

That priest at George Washington University is not a bigot or a homophobe.  He is evangelizing the teachings of the Catholic Church.  This event is another example of the Catholic Church coming under attack from secular society.  We, as Catholics, must be ready to stand up for our beliefs and not turn our back on the church Jesus left us at his death.  The attack on our Church is under way and will only get worse.  It is only a matter of time before the government tries to force us to perform same-sex marriages.  Pray for the Church daily.