I would guess that my own religiosity would be judged by others as fairly intense. After all, I do to go Mass just about every morning. But, while I regard abortion as a grave moral wrong, I do not favor its criminalization. As for gay marriage, it's rather a non-issue for Catholics.
How is gay marriage a "npn-issue" for Catholics?
ReplyDeleteI'm genuinely curious what you mean.
It doesn't match my experience at all. In my experience, and reading, Catholics have been pretty hot under the collar about gay marriage. Few have been quietly rational with good arguments pro or con. As, say, Mark Vernon has been.
I only meant that I can't see the Church altering its view on the matter anytime soon.I mean recently, if memory serves, it banned gays from ordination (odd indeed, given that, whether gay or straight, priests are obliged to be celibate). And I say this as someone who has long thought that the church's preoccupation with matters sexual is often, perhaps largely, counterproductive. Of course you realize, Art, that now you've gone and got me in trouble.
ReplyDeleteOh, I see. That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying that. I agree that the church isn't likely to alter any of its positions any time soon; especially not with the current very conservative leadership.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the church's long-time obsession over matters sexual—in which I include their position on priestly celibacy, in contrast to the Eastern Orthodox position, for example—is quite counterproductive. In fact, priestly celibacy lies at the root of a lot of their current troubles with sexuality, leading to some of the current scandals. The no-gay-priests policy is laughable in the face of required celibacy; but having personally known several gay priests, former priests, and gay men who were going to become priests till they left seminary, the best comparison I can think of is the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Sorry if I got you into trouble. :)
It's also hard to imagine that there have not been a goodly number of gay saints.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point.
ReplyDeleteIf you read John Boswell's books such as "The Marriage of Likenesses," there is strong evidence that there have been gay saints, indeed.