I’m Catholic, and as liberal as I may be, I still don’t necessarily believe in same-sex marriage within the church. However, I do believe that every person is entitled to a loving and happy relationship regardless of his or her sexual preferences.
Even with my democratic views, I still joined the Catholic Church two years ago being fully aware of its stance on this particular issue.
From a legal standpoint, I believe there is no reason for same-sex marriage to be banned. Reviewing our allotted rights in the Constitution and seeing some states continuing to prohibit the ability for same-sex couples to tie the knot is plainly despicable.
However, although I think that every person should have the right to marry who they wish, there should be a clear line between church and state when it comes to same-sex marriage. I do not believe that any church should be forced to ordain these marriages within their walls, as the amendment of freedom of religion would be trashed. On the other hand, if a particular church wishes to take it upon them to allow the marriage of these couples within their religion, then that, too, is their right.
Nonetheless, even with my left-winged beliefs I still do not think that same-sex couples should have the option to be married within the Catholic Church because of the importance of this sacrament. According to Catholic beliefs, marriage has four dimensions: emotional, legal, biblical and biological.
“If a same-sex couple were to get married they would be cutting off both the biblical and biological elements of marriage, which leaves only the emotional and legal elements. So, even if you take one away, is it really marriage you have?” said Father James Shumacher, priest of Laramie’s St. Laurence O’Toole Catholic Church.
Still, members of the LGBTQ community should not be treated with hatred. What is the point of ostracizing them? I realize that according to the Christian doctrine, marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman, but who are we to punish those who don’t abide by “the rules?” Shouldn’t we be treating them with the same loving kindness that everyone deserves?
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “the Church teaches that persons with a homosexual inclination ‘must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.’ We recognize that these persons have been, and often continue to be, objects of scorn, hatred and even violence in some sectors of our society.”
Regardless, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard various pastors from a wide variety of religions spewing hate, even here on campus. Those of different sexual orientations are not terrible people. Generally, they are not raping and pillaging, taking lives or abusing children, which are all heavily frowned upon in our society. Nevertheless, when it comes to same-sex relationships, we suddenly forget about all other terrors in the world and soley concentrate on people being an abomination, It is ludicrous, considering that homosexuality is not forbidden within the 10 Commandments; in fact, it’s not even considered a sin.
According to Shumacher, “The attraction itself is not sinful. That’s the teaching of the church. My personal opinion is that a lot of people may experience that attraction and be frightened by it. I think we oversimplify the idea that the world is separated into two groups of people, the ones who never experience any same-sex attraction and the ones that always do; however, there’s a huge middle ground that’s being neglected.”
Shumacher continued by saying that hell is not a punishment for sin; it is the result of someone deliberately and freely doing something that they know is seriously wrong. That there is a monumental difference between a conscious in error and going against your conscious.
If you can imagine ancient Mexico where they practiced human sacrifice — you know, carving out someone’s heart and burning it to his gods — that person could come to heaven eventually. This was not because of what he was doing was right, but because he had no idea it was wrong.
“You cannot not move immediately from saying that someone is sinful to that they are going to hell because you don’t know if that person is genuinely following his/her conscious and therefore is doing what he thinks is right, so its not deliberately, knowingly committing a serious sin.”
Even being a faithful Catholic who prays her rosary every Sunday and attends the Easter Vigil religiously — not pun intended — I still believe in equality for all. Everyone deserves love because it is the most powerful thing in the world, which we all know. How is it our place to take that away from someone from a legal standpoint, whether we believe that they are breaking religious doctrines or not?
Religious leaders also seem to concentrate on same-sex marriage being the only mishap pertaining to this Holy sacrament; however, according to the Catholic Church it is just one of many.
“From the biblical perspective we cannot have same sex marriage because marriage is supposed to be between a male and a female, but also from the biblical perspective we cannot be divorcing and remarrying repeatedly. So if we say that same sex marriage is wrong, we also have to say that divorcing and remarrying is wrong,” said Fr. James. From the biblical side, if we say same-sex marriage is wrong because they are not going to be coming together to have babies, then we also have to say that if a man and woman get married but never intend to have children then that’s wrong too.”
Pope Francis, elected in 2013, said, “A gay person who is seeking God, who is of good will — well, who am I to judge him? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says one must not marginalize these persons, they must be integrated into society.” And as the most influential Christian leader in the world, he couldn’t have said it any better.
