just to start things off, im not gay or catholic. and this has most likely been discussed before, but im toom lazy to look through the forum.

anyway, ive been hearing alot about the rainbow sash movement in the news and how they are denied communion every week. also, rainbow sash members are not allowed to become priests, bishops or anyone else who matters in the catholic church.

the whole basis of the christian religion is 'love your neighbor' and that the church is to be open to everyone who seeks it. therefore the church is not just contradicting itself on small details (as the bible does often, i might add) but they are trying to make an exception to the two rules that their religion has guaranteed to every single human being since 33 AD.

I understand that there has always been much corruption in the catholic church (dark ages and renaissance for example) but this latest display of ignorance, stupidity, and abuse of power gnaws at the very foundation of their religion.

this was basically just a rant but i'd like to see a discussion on the matter. so, how do you think this matter will be resolved? how do you think this resolution will effect the church as a whole? how long until changes are made?

discuss.

The Catholic church, which I do believe contradicts itself, is not contradicting the Shema/Golden Rule/love thy neighbor thing.

They believe that the practice of homosexuality is evil, therefor should not be allowed in the church. An abstinent homosexual can, in fact, be a priest, etc. A practicing homosexual would not have the clean conscious to accept communion/the host/mass/whatever, as is required for all Catholics.

The rainbow sash people should find another church because the entire thing is just fucking stupid.

What's the rainbow sash movement? If they're gay, they need to be excommunicated and blown up...... yeeeaahhh!!!

Homosexuals are GAY.

The refusal to allow homosexuals recieve communion is not worse than renaissance or Dark Ages etc. it's just happening at the present people tend to view things happening at their time as more important. Same thing with the apocolypse everyone believing god is coming soon this is the mindset in all periods of christian history. It is arrogance basically to believe that you have screwed things up more than all the other time periods or whatever. (did that make sense?)

quote:Originally posted by Random_Looney:

The Catholic church, which I do believe contradicts itself, is not contradicting the Shema/Golden Rule/love thy neighbor thing.

They believe that the practice of homosexuality is evil, therefor should not be allowed in the church. An abstinent homosexual can, in fact, be a priest, etc. A practicing homosexual would not have the clean conscious to accept communion/the host/mass/whatever, as is required for all Catholics.

The rainbow sash people should find another church because the entire thing is just fucking stupid.

They may not be counteracting the golden rule, but there is definately a contradiction between the actions of the holy mother Church and the Bible on this issue. The Bible calls homosexuality a sin. The Bible also calls a host of other things sins. Among those is adultry. But, and we all know this story, but in John 8:11, Jesus tells the prostitute that he will not condemn her, that she should go and leave her life of sin, after no one casts stones on her. There are other instances of Jesus offering compassion to those who commit sins.

I'm going to say before I go further that I am a practicing Christian who is not Catholic and that I do not believe that the Bible is infallible, that is hasn't been mucked about by man. I'm also not gay, but I don't believe that homosexuality is a sin. But I'm going to try to write this from the point of view of someone who does see it as a sin, and with the limited knowledge I have of the Catholic Church and its practices.

Now, if the Catholic Church is flat out refusing to offer communion to gays, there are issues within their own Dogma. Catechism No. 1415 says that anyone in a state of mortal sin who wants to accept the holy communion must be absolved of sin and go through pennance. Some mortal sins include adultry, murder, and the use of contraceptives, according to Wikipedia. So if adulterers are allowed to be absolves, serve pennance, and accept communion, but homosexuals are not, there is a problem there, because the Church is not following its own doctrine.

Furthermore, from a more spiritual point of view, if the Catholic Church is not allowing gays to take communion, they are acting against the teachings of Jesus in that they are not trying to reach these people with the word of God (people who actually want to hear it, no less.) They are instead casting them out.

I hope all this makes sense. Now take that condom off, sinner!