He replied:
The Catholic Church, while often expressing views that seem, on the
surface, to be wholly laudable, never fails to reiterate views that are
narrow-minded and, from the perspective of a more truly catholic (little "c!") concern for human beings, counter-productive. Take, for example, the insistence that "The origin of human life has its authentic context in marriage and the family." Ok, fine, of course the Church will proceed as if there is a God who has decreed x, y, and z. But in the world we live in, to cling to these notions and ignore human realities is, well, to cede the ability to intervene usefully and effectively and, worse, to do actual harm in many cases (i.e. HIV/AIDS in developing nations, because the Church is against the dissemination of condoms, which essentially makes it complicit in the dissemination of disease, etc).
So, you know, for me: I don't adhere to the notion of natural law, I reject as incredibly naive the notion that "the acts that permit a new human being to come into existence...are a reflection of trinitarian love" [what percentage of pregnancies come even remotely close to this ridiculously idealistic -- and not very ecumenical -- conception of conception?], and so on and so on.
Be safe. Have sex. Have kids, if you want, when you want, but with full awareness that a woman has the right to manage her own reproductive rights.
And, oh, by the way, there are lots of good gay couples out there -- the ones having sinful, unnatural sex -- who would adopt these unborn children that the Church cares so much about.
In sum, the Catholic Church is not where I go to get my moral and ethical framework.
And yourselves? You have opinions?
To which Rizsan replied:
I so totally agree with all of this it brings tears to my eyes. No
kidding. I wish I were this eloquent. I feel so betrayed by the Catholic Church, it is hard for me not to feel resentful towards it. Although I still firmly identify myself as being Catholic. I love the rituals and prayers. I love how the practice of this faith binds us to others across cultures. I am very conflicted. All of what Joe says here is true and he didn't even touch of the Big Shame of the Church - child abusing priests and even more evil -- covering for them. It is hard for me to look to the Church for moral guidance when pedophilia has been so rampant. The number of lives ruined by trusted, God-fearing men makes me sick.
As for myself, I must say I always admire the consistency of the Church's logic. Repsect for life means no killing, be it the unborn, the criminal, or the dying. And in theory I think those are all the "right" answers. There shouldn't be abortions, executions, or suicides. But in practice I realize it isn't that easy.
There are at least two problems between the ideal and the practical - one, when people don't have access to the things they need (education, birth control, hope, etc.) they do things that are "right" for them at that time. Two, I'm not entirely certain that my conviction that it's right means that it is right. Though I hate what that opens up - can anything, then, be universally right or wrong?
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