The Least of My Brothers

IF a gay man or woman is turned away from his or her faith, even when proscribing to the Churches teachings and remaining celibate, denied this vocation and also denied the companionship of marriage, given no spiritual support nor extended Christ's love through inclusion and is now persecuted by their Church when no sin has been committed even in the eyes of their Church, (rather like preemptive war, isn't it), than it becomes very clear that the moral and ethical evil committed is not that of the homosexual individual but of the Church's teaching authority even unto the Pope. The blanket condemnation of an entire minority who are homosexual from the moment they are thought of by God, and who are therefore of the same worth and value as any man conceived is the genuine 'grave moral evil'. If it is not recognized as such and is not spoken out against at every turn then all who are silent must surely bear a collective responsibility for the persecution and devaluation of these men and women. Let me be clear, the condemnation of homosexuals by the teaching magisterium of the Church is and will continue leading to the denial of basic rights to equal treatment under the civil law for homosexuals. The Church's position in the political arena influences not just religious authority but civil authority as well. In Western nations this may or may not be moderated by political battles, and may include and/or resurrect the denial of equal civil rights to homosexuals, (such as inheritance, visitation of a sick partner, access to housing, job safety - all of which are denied to homosexual Americans NOW in many parts of the country) and certainly there will be the continued increase of verbal and physical violence, morally justified to their practitioner by the homosexuals consistent and deliberate denigration of his or her person-hood by Church authority; and even more horrific we will continue to see in third world countries the unbridled escalation of state sponsored imprisonment, torture and execution. This is not acceptable to anyone who has any moral or ethical barometer of conscience, but without question most particularly if the conscience is formed by Judeo-Christian beliefs; the most basic tenant of our Christian Faith being that God is Love. Jesus expressly demonstrates time and time again in the New Testament His anger at the exclusion from the temple of all those deemed 'unclean' by the teaching authority of the Jewish hierarchy. His constant example was to show the world of His day in all His actions that no one was to be excluded from God's house. Yet, the present Church, in it's blanket condemnations, is taking what is the personal and individual journey for union with God by the homosexual person, determined by the Church's doctrine and the individual's faith and interior knowledge of good and evil, and undermining all hope for their life in Christ; even being so bold as to imply that such a life is now utterly unachievable. This is tantamount to saying that the homosexual is incapable of salvation. Why does the Church give such huge attention to homosexuality at this time? It is not seemingly a new emphasis on virtue: in general those who have failed moral obligations in divorce, abortion, infidelity, sex outside of marriage, etc. are not treated with the contempt with which the homosexual is now daily confronted. Partly it is because these men and women are asked to lead celibate lives and a huge number believe they have been called to service in the religious life which demands such celibacy. Estimates of 25% to 50% of clergy in the United States. As far as the Church is concerned this amounts to a potential financial risk of a proportion to devastate all its capital and investments, since more and more the clergy are subjected to civil laws, and civil courts continue holding the Church financially responsible. It is so easy to scapegoat homosexuals and say they are the problem. They are not. Child abusers, pedophiles, have been the problem. Homosexuality is not an equation for child molestation. The most important point I can make, however, is that of the men and women who continue to serve the people of God as a priest or religious, whom I know to be homosexual, are celibate and holy men and of great worth to their Faith and our Church. And therein lies the disservice to all of us. Christ, in His one act of physical violence, threw from the temple of His Father the moneychangers: His rage directed once again at those who kept the humble and disenfranchised from His Father's house.I