I was really hoping this discussion wouldn't take this turn, but I suppose it's inevitable. The Catholic Church. Truly a bastion of good will to all and social policies and practices that exemplify the Christian ethics of love your neighbor and your enemy, right? Please note the intense sarcasm. Don't make me point to all the awful human rights violations the Catholic Church, as a whole, has either perpetrated, condoned, or been complicit in by ignoring the presence of said rights violations. Do the Crusades, the witch trials and burnings, the rape and destruction of culture done to native peoples, ignoring the Holocaust, etc. really fade so readily from our collective consciousness? How about recent statements from the Vatican to AIDS-ridden countries about how the use of condoms doesn't totally prevent the spread of the disease, so people should just stop using them? I weep for Catholics in this day and age; you certainly have an emmense shadow side to your religion to own up to, and if your refuse to see it, I refuse to respect your position.

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There are many things that have been done in the name of Christ that are completely wrong. We're all human. Of course we regret what has been done in our name, been condoned by us, started by us! Heck, I can add on to that list tenfold. We don't condone condoms simply because it denies the existence of life through a process that was meant to create life. But I do think it is unfair, however, that people generally bring up the negative side of things and never try to balance it with the positive.
I'm tired of reading newspapers that jump on a story about the negative things we teenagers have done yet don't too often tell the good things we've done.

Personally I was "attacking" politicians who say they believe something, yet they ignore it just to stay with popular opnion.
I did not say wether you had to agree with them or not.

We don't go around parading with signs that say "God hates Gays". Far from that.

Quote:
The church recognizes the dignity of all persons and neither defines nor catalogues them according to their sexual orientation. As the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith mentions, "every person has a fundamental identity: the creature of God, and by grace his child and heir to eternal life." All human beings are precious in God's eyes. The love that one person has for another is a gift from God and implies observance of his law by all people regardless of their sexual orientation. Everyone must move towards an ideal, even if it is only gradually attained. (Cf. Familiaris Consortio, 34).


We do not condone gay acts because it denies the existence of life, which is why we can't put it on equal footing with heterosexual relationships.

Quote:
By its mission, the Catholic Church is called to present in every age a demanding vision and ethic of marriage and sexuality. The Church is however conscious that its teaching can sometimes be difficult to put into practise. Also, when faced with failures, the Church must exercise its pastoral sense: it cannot reject those who are confronted with failures, but should help bring them to a better understanding and acceptance of the doctrine given to it by God.


I'm not forcing this view down your throat. I'm merely stating it. So I hope no one is taking my posts like that. I wouldn't have gotten into this whole debate at all had I not felt that all views were not represented. How can you have an interesting topic if no one takes an opposing view?