BY JOE SIXPACK
As we continue our look at the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, I’d like to dedicate this particular article to a topic that is very much in the news and national dialogue. I’m referring to homosexuality.
It amazes me that so many Catholics actually support so-called homosexual rights, including same-sex “marriage.” Let me first state that being a homosexual is not morally wrong. If homosexuality is morally wrong, then by necessity heterosexuality must also be wrong. What’s morally wrong is homosexual acts, just like heterosexual acts outside of marriage are wrong. As long as the homosexual lives a chaste life, it’s no more immoral to be a homosexual than it is to be a heterosexual.
“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ 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” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2357).
Since the Church herself declares a scriptural basis for her teaching that homosexual acts are disordered and immoral, let’s take a look at a few of those passages. First we see that God destroyed Sodom because of the rampant homosexual behaviors taking place, hence the reason any unnatural sexual act is called sodomy (Gen. 19).
Next is Leviticus: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Lev. 18:22). “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them” (Lev. 20:13).
Then we see what St. Paul has to say in the New Testament. “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:24-27).
“Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9b-10; cf. 1 Tim. 1:8-11).
The above Scriptures demonstrate to us exactly how God views homosexual acts. However, the homosexual lobby has been very successful in its concerted public relations effort to make their destructive lifestyle acceptable to far too many Americans. What they have been telling us for decades is, homosexuals make up 10 percent of the American population. However, a study from the Williams Law Institute of UCLA tells us that it’s actually 3.5 percent of adults in the United States who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
Among the many other lies they tell us is that they are homosexual by nature, not by choice. That claim is simply illogical. It is the Supernature (God) who creates nature. We’ve already seen what God says about homosexuality. It is an insult to Almighty God (blasphemy) to say that God made homosexuals homosexual. He certainly made every human being — with the help of our parents — but the homosexual made a choice to become homosexual. If it were natural to be homosexual, then homosexuals would be able to procreate and have families naturally. That is simply not the case.
The acceptance of homosexuality by Catholics is a blatant denial of the Church’s teachings, and a denial of the Church’s teachings is to place oneself outside the Catholic Church.
All this stated, it’s still wrong to discriminate against anyone — homosexuals or otherwise. But we must define exactly what we mean by discrimination. Actually, let’s define first what discrimination is not.
Discrimination is not refusing to give someone something because of the way they choose to have sex. By giving homosexuals “rights” that are traditionally reserved to traditional marriage, then there is nothing to keep the floodgates from bursting into all sorts of new “rights.”
By legalizing same-sex unions, nothing stops legalized prostitution (both adult and minor), pedophilia (just ask the North American Man-Boy Love Association), polygamy, bigamy, bestiality (the current pet craze in America makes it not only likely, but a minor movement has begun), and a host of other perversions. So we don’t discriminate on the basis of gender, color, race, or creed, but nothing in that description affirms giving people special “rights” because of the way they choose to have sex.
Rights imply liberty.
As I’ve stated in these articles in the past, liberty is doing as we ought; license is doing as we want. No one has a right to license, but liberty — doing as we ought — is every person’s responsibility. That’s what the Church teaches, and that’s What We Believe . . . Why We Believe It.
If you have a question or comment you can reach out to me through the “Ask Joe” page of JoeSixpackAnswers.com, or you can email me at Joe@CantankerousCatholic.com.
Hey, how would you like to see things like this article every week in your parish bulletin as an insert? You or your pastor can learn more about how to do that by emailing me at Joe@CantankerousCatholic.com.
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