Get out, already
Even though I'm a godless heathen and the son of a self-described "recovering Catholic," I have a certain amount of sympathy for gay Catholics and their supporters within the church with regard to Pope Benedict's new edict banning gay priests and asserting that homosexuality has "no moral value."
That being said, reading Andrew Sullivan on this issue is like watching a wife with two black eyes and a broken clavicle insist that her hubby only beats her out of love. I can't claim to understand the level of intense religious feeling that would compel him, or anyone for that matter, to remain within a church that is actively attempting to push them out. I also have a lot of difficulty interpreting such a stance as being in any way reflective of the spiritual comfort that religions exist, at least in part, to provide. It's like he's never heard of the Episcopalians.
posted by Dave Hughes @ 1:52 PM
3 Comments:
I think it's 'cause catholics, myself included, consider it a cultural identity, in addition to a religious identity.
I really don't know why. How do we differ culturally from the Protestants? I'm not sure. There're some things, but they're minor. But I think that's the disconnect. That's why people who seriously disagree with the church on lots of issues still refer to themselves as Catholic.
I can understand that to an extent. But wouldn't that make gays who won't leave the Church metaphorically equivalent to, I dunno, German Jews who wouldn't flee Hitler because they loved the fatherland?
The thing I don't get is how Catholics who disagree with the Church are able to square their disagreement with the fact that by staying in the Church they are indirectly assenting to whatever crazy socially regressive positions the Church takes. It seems like the most expedient way to protest their positions would be to leave, rather than stick around and whine while Rome does its best to ignore them.
Sure, but that's a slippery slope problem. Why then shouldn't all people who disagree with Bush leave the U.S.?
I think the notion is that catholicism, as an identity, may outlast both this pope, and the current regressive tendencies. I'll be Catholic longer than Benedict will live. And my children and family will (or at least might) be catholic much longer. When you're talking about cultural identity, not merely philosophical or religious identity, then timelines aren't always treated the same way as political or social concerns.
But I say this as someone who isn't seeing the church attack other perhaps similarly fundamental portions of my identity. So I certainly don't disparage those who do feel the need to leave. I just think there is a rational way to think about those who want to stay.
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