The reality behind Pope Francis' statement about anti-Gay laws & the REAL AGENDA. Update.
Of course some Gays are rejoicing over a crumb and not asking questions.
Before getting into this topic, Gay Christians have a tough time of it. Not all Gay Christians are giving Pope Francis and his statement uncritical praise. Some are, but I don’t know what fraction they are of all Gay Christians. A lot of the media is treating this as a big advance for Gays when it isn’t.
Update: Pope Francis has reiterated that homosexuality is a sin per Catholic teachings on Feb. 5, 2023. See additional story links at the end of this post.
The supposed big advance for Gays.
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A lot of hoopla is being made about Pope Francis speaking out against anti-Gay laws.
Some of the news reports were clearer on the fact that Pope Francis still regards homosexuality as a sin. Such as this PBS article, “Pope Francis says homosexuality is a sin, but not a crime.”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/pope-francis-says-homosexuality-is-a-sin-but-not-a-crime
This is the AP interview with Pope Francis in which Francis called for the end of anti-Gay laws.
https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-gay-rights-ap-interview-1359756ae22f27f87c1d4d6b9c8ce212
The “sin” part is further down in the article.
On Tuesday, Francis said there needed to be a distinction between a crime and a sin with regard to homosexuality. Church teaching holds that homosexual acts are sinful, or “intrinsically disordered,” but that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect.
Bantering with himself, Francis articulated the position: “It’s not a crime. Yes, but it’s a sin. Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime.” [Bold Face added.]
Is being called “intrinsically disordered” and a “sin” either dignified or respectful?
The author of this article not feeling a lot of respect or dignity in being called “intrinsically disordered,” but maybe that is just the author.
The author of this report does think something is “intrinsically disordered,” but it isn’t homosexuals, instead some large group of idiots owning a lot of Baroque property.
The key points to consider regarding this news.
Though Pope Francis’ statement might be useful in some ways, it needs to be critically looked at. These are the key points.
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[1] It is still a sin: Pope Francis doesn’t want criminal sanctions, but homosexuality is still a sin. We are still to remain an underclass, but people shouldn’t try to beat us up.
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[2] Civil Rights Protections: No support for anti-discrimination laws and no indication that they won’t continue to oppose anti-discrimination laws as they have in the past. No indication that Gay people won’t continued to be fired from teaching jobs at Catholic private schools.
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[4] Same-sex marriage: No change in policy.
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[5] Gay clergy: No change in policy. You can’t work there.
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[6] Implementation: Exactly how or if this new position by Pope Francis will be implemented by the Roman Catholic church isn’t clear.
Maybe the Pope will say one thing and the local church will do another and there will be babbling about diversity of opinion as the local churches continue to persecute Gays.
Even in regard to the Vatican, will this mean any specific actions against any anti-Gay law anywhere?
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[7] Plausible deniability: Is it going to be just a feel-good statement to enable plausible deniability when the Roman Catholic church at some specific place is campaigning against Gays. The global Roman Catholic church can evade responsibility when a local Roman Catholic church is campaigning against Gays.
Pope Francis thinks this triffling is a big thing.
What is significant is that the Roman Catholic church thinks this is a big favor to Gays, that they are having a social justice moment, as if it is still the 1960s and not the year 2023. Time has marched on, just asking that we not be arrested isn’t the cutting edge that Pope Francis thinks it is.
Of course, the usual Gay Christian groups are busy proclaiming that this shift in papal positions is a great thing and not the grossly inadequate thing it really is.
For example this group. Which slyly misrepresents what Pope Francis says.
Most important, the pope highlights that being LGBTQ+ is not sinful and criminal, but harming one’s neighbor is most certainly both. [Boldface added.]
If this seems to contradict the AP report quoted earlier, but note the the key word “being,” in this New Ways Ministry statement versus the reference to “homosexual acts” in the AP report. You can according to the New Ways Ministry report have homosexual desires, but not homosexual acts according to Francis and this is something to “rejoice” about.
No doubt we will hear the “church moves slowly,” excuse in regards to the Catholic church. We need to understand that some of these Gay Christian groups act as collaborators with anti-Gay forces by obscuring how anti-Gay these churches are.
What this really might be about. Self-interest and not social justice.
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[A] Christianity is in free fall: Church membership and involvement is declining rapidly by historical standards. For young people, which are the future of any religion it has already declined considerably and is still declining.
One reason is that Christianity is general perceived as intolerant and dogmatic and persecuting. Christians find more and more that they aren’t considered a credible more voice. Declining membership and rising public resentment against Christians in politics means that churches are also experiencing a rapid decline in influence both culturally and politically.
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[B] Catholic Need for Human Rights Protections: Catholics are getting beaten up in India by Hindu Nationalists. The Chinese Communist Party runs the official Catholic Church in China and persecutes Catholic dissidents. Catholics get attacked in many places on the globe.
However, when the Catholic church appeals for human rights protections as victims, their own record can be examined. It is a record showing that they are hypocrites if they complain about human rights violations.
In India the Roman Catholic church opposed the decriminalization of homosexuality. This is their story, “India Church unhappy with legalization of homosexuality,” in the link below complaining about the decriminalization of homosexuality.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/india-church-unhappy-with-legalization-of-homosexuality/83280
One thing about the Roman Catholic church run by the Communist Party in China is that they aren’t launching campaigns against Gays. The Archdiocese of Hong Kong had been running a decades long campaign against Gays there. The arrest of their archbishop, Cardinal Zen, probably slowed down a bit their anti-Gay campaign there.
The complaint of the Catholic church regarding attacks against themselves isn’t really about human rights, it is that the Catholic church isn’t setting the agenda of who is getting persecuted and, worse yet, they are the target of persecution.
The Catholic churches appeal for human rights protections will lack credibility if they are seen as human rights violators themselves. Their appeal will be seen as just self-interest.
Would defending the Human Rights of the Catholic church someplace just means they would launch an attack on Gays in that place?
Further it is going to be asked that if the U.S. State Dept. intervened on behalf of the Catholic church somewhere to prevent it from being persecuted, have as its result be that the Catholic church would then launch its own campaign of persecution of LGBT. That isn’t a question the Roman Catholic church wants to face.
Summary
This recent statement by Pope Francis is nothing more than a shift in strategy in the ongoing anti-Gay campaign of the Catholic church.
The Roman Catholic church went out on a campaign against Gays and it got smacked down. It lost credibility with elites and educated people in general. It also discovered that the majority of people have a Gay relative, co-worker, friend, or colleague and these people didn’t appreciate an ongoing campaign against their relative, co-worker, friend, or colleague.
Pope Francis’ statement is nothing more than a strategic retreat and not about social justice.
UPDATE:
Pope Francis did reiterate that homosexuality is a sin. So basically Francis is patronizing and condescending towards Gays. It is interesting how the conservative and mainstream press reported it.
In this Breitbart article it is upfront that Francis still thinks it is a sin, but Gays shouldn’t be persecuted.
The mainstream articles omit that Francis thinks homosexuality is a sin from the article headlines and you have to read down into the articles to discover that it is still a sin in Francis’ views. This is one article.
Let me make myself clear on something, Francis is an idiot, but I don’t think it is a crime and he shouldn’t be arrested. Isn’t that a positive statement, or perhaps not, maybe Francis isn’t positive either.
I think covering up homophobia is not an activity that is supporting Gays. We need to think that sometimes the support for Gays or the LGBT with the mainstream community is merely contingent and opportunistic.
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