No Gay Prayers in the Twin Cities
I have minimized this article but you can read it all at the link above.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis recently told staff members at St. Joan of Arc Church they could not hold their annual gay pride prayer service planned for Wednesday. Instead, the archdiocese suggested a "peace" service with no mention of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
"The reason is quite simply because it was a LGBT pride prayer service, and that is really inimical to the teachings of the Catholic Church."
Officials with the Minneapolis-based Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, a grass-roots coalition promoting acceptance of gays in the Catholic Church, see the action as an attack by Archbishop John Nienstedt, who took the helm of the archdiocese in May.
In an e-mail to supporters, committee co-founder David McCaffrey called the move "yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at LGBT persons and their families under Archbishop Nienstedt's reign of homophobic hatred."
Michael Bayly, executive director of the pastoral committee, said he saw signs of an ongoing "chilling effect." Usually, gay-friendly parishes advertise in the "pride guide" in advance of the Twin Cities Pride festival; this year, none did. The 2008 festival is this weekend.
McGrath said "the church welcomes people with same-sex attractions among its worshippers. The distinction is people who fully adapt to the GLBT lifestyle are not permitted to receive the sacraments or be the subject of a prayer service that endorses that lifestyle."
Nienstedt has said homosexuality is a disorder, and he is a leader in the campaign to persuade the Legislature to prohibit same-sex unions.
"Those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil and, if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of mortal sin," he wrote in a November article in the archdiocese's paper, the Catholic Spirit.
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I am not a Catholic but I agree with the churches position. And I see language from the other side that seems to have the sanction and tone of PC police.
The church’s position is called an “ATTACK.” The church took a stand based on its doctrines. There was no violent or hostile action or words. The church simply reasserted a position which has been known for over 3,000 years.
The real kicker is this phrase from McCaffrey, who called it "yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at LGBT persons and their families under Archbishop Nienstedt's reign of homophobic hatred."
Dehumanizing spiritual violence? Reign of homophobic hatred? When terms like this are used, of course they will draw sympathy and encourage derision against the church.
The position was also referred to and part of a “chilling effect” against LGBT worshippers.
This is the mantra of which the extreme left takes and it is fascist. Christianity has had consistent laws and doctrine regarding homosexuality. The various denominations may have differing attitudes, but the bible is VERY specific:
“But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.” – Genesis 13:13. In the context of the verse, homosexual sex between men was declared as exceedingly wicked and sinful. The name of the city of Sodom is where the term sodomy comes from. If you don’t know what sodomy is,
look it up.
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” - Leviticus 18:22; “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” - Leviticus 20:13. Again, in the context of these verses, homosexual sex is the reference.
In the New Testament, the standards for homosexuality was more clearly defined in Romans. “…God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts… and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” – Romans 1:26-27, 32. These verses and those around them are about Homosexual sex and all that it encompasses.
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Homosexuality is finally mentioned by name as an act that will PREVENT one from going to Heaven. It is mentioned as equal to idolatry, adultery, thievery, and covetousness. Those have their own specific commandments in Exodus 20. That mean that homosexuality is absolutely a sin against God.
Now that we have this defined, let’s look at the reality of it in today’s church.
Because homosexuality is a sin, it is no different to God than murder, thievery, blasphemy, and dishonesty. They are ALL equally filthy to God and when we commit those wretched acts, we deserve eternal punishment. However, with the cleansing blog of Christ, we are forgiven by grace alone. Jesus paid the price for all sin, past, present and future and when we make Him our Lord and Savior, we are redeemed to God who accepts us into His kingdom. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16.
So, in essence then, churches who do not let homosexuals worship are going against God. LGBTs should be in church to hear God’s word. The issue is this: the church should not and cannot endorse or sanction activities, groups or individuals that proclaim homosexuality as their open choice. To do so would be to openly disagree with what God calls and abomination.
And yes, sin is sin. But there are not any activities, groups or individuals who claim to be liars, murderers, thieves, blasphemers, or idolaters as a part of a lifestyle choice. You probably won’t see a “murderers pride parade” any time soon. And you won’t hear people deriding others who are anti-murder as attackers or dehumanizing.
Finally, I wish to bring up what happened to our good friend
Douglas V. Gibbs.
The inexcusable actions of those who ATTACKED Mr. Gibbs are a direct and extreme example of the PC left wishing to stifle the rights of others. Like Doug, I have no ill will toward anyone, not LGBTs or those who support them. I don’t anything bad to happen to them. I don’t want to force anything upon them. What people do in the privacy of their own homes is their business and as long as it doesn’t affect me or the ones I love, I am fine with it. For the most part, I am understanding as to LGBTs wanting the benefits of a marital relationship. However, because God is the one who created and defined marriage, LGBTs should not be allowed to marry. I am still not exactly sure where I stand on civil unions, but it seems like a workable compromise.
Please know that those of us who are Christians who oppose the homosexual lifestyle would never attack anyone like Douglas was attacked. And before you start in on Christians killing abortionists and gays and all that, those were not true Christians who followed the example of Jesus.
I truly pray that this has educated some of you and that you are better informed because of it.
