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Posted on 05/22/2006 10:25:13 PM PDT by Coleus
In June, the U.S. Senate will vote on the marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which will define marriage as between a man and a woman. The U.S. bishops are asking as many Catholics as possible to participate in the Knights of Columbus’ drive to contact their U.S. senators. To participate, print out the Knights’ response form at KofC.org or write your own letter using the information here. Find their names and addresses by typing in your Zip code at Vote-Smart.org.
Why homosexual “marriage” is wrong, and not just for Catholics.
World cultural and legal history has never thought of marriage as anything but one thing: the union of a man and a woman. But just as most abortion proponents want to skip the debate about when life begins and argue about “choice” instead, most homosexual activists want to skip the argument about what marriage is. Instead, they argue about rights or about discrimination. But the fact is, the very nature of marriage is such that the law severely restricts who can and can’t marry. Marriage is restricted by age, by previous marriage status and by kinship, for starters. It excludes other pairings: roommates, brothers and sisters, and best friends.
Why does society have to restrict marriage so severely? Because marriage performs a crucial function for society. Its purpose is the propagation and protection of children, and to conform sexual relationships to morality for the public good. Homosexual “marriage” would do none of these things. Think of it this way: If either of your own parents chose a homosexual “marriage,” you wouldn’t be here. And if you were raised by homosexuals, your childhood would likely have been very different from what it was.
If you were raised by homosexual men, statistics say your guardians would have had to be hospitalized far more frequently than they were. Doctors advertise heavily in homosexual publications, because homosexual sex injures its participants. No matter whether they were men or women, your guardians would have been more likely to have severe emotional problems. Even in countries where homosexuality is accepted, homosexuals suffer higher rates of depression and suicide than the general public.
And, as the children of homosexual parents have told the Register, kids are bound to suffer if their parents are part of the homosexual scene. Homosexual parades are never shown uncensored on television, because exhibitionism is so common in the homosexual community. From the Village People song “YMCA” to the Showtime television show “Queer as Folk,” homosexual culture has long celebrated sex with teens. One of the most often searched-for pornography terms on the Internet is a homosexual slang for teens. In The Gay Report, by homosexual researchers Karla Jay and Allen Young, the authors report data showing that 73% of homosexuals surveyed had at some time had sex with boys 16 to 19 years of age or younger.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that legalized homosexual “marriage” would simply mean keeping things the way they are, only with health benefits for homosexual couples. In fact, the changes will be dramatic. Public schools will include texts and materials treating the two types of marriages identically. Homosexual couples would be spotlighted whenever romance is spotlighted: on Valentine’s Day at the public library, in Christmas specials on television, radio and billboard advertisements.
If you die leaving children, there will be no guarantee that a heterosexual couple rather than a homosexual couple will adopt them — to prefer one over the other would be illegal prejudice. More Catholic adoption agencies will have to close over the adoption issue.
What can we do?
Write to your representatives in state and federal government and your local newspapers, using the information above.
Pray. In his apostolic letter on the Rosary, Pope John Paul II called for Catholics to pray the Rosary daily for the family. He said attacks on the family were “menacing … so as to make us fear for the future of this fundamental and indispensable institution and, with it, for the future of society as a whole.”
Evangelize. Spread the word about marriage — and strengthen the Christian backbone of our society. Promote Sunday Mass, confession, prayer and community service by printing out and distributing the “How to Be Catholic” guides from NCRegister.com.
Catholic ping!
Just how serious are the coming conflicts over religious liberty stemming from gay marriage? Last month, Massachusetts told Catholic Charities of Boston that it could not maintain its license to perform adoption services unless it abided by the anti-discrimination laws of the state, which in Massachusetts means placing children with same-sex couples. This despite the fact that placing children with same-sex couples violates Catholic teaching and moral doctrine. The result is that Boston Catholic Charities is getting out of the adoption business.
Is this episode an aberration or a sign of things to come? If same-sex marriage is a civil right, then shouldn’t the state punish those who refuse to respect that right? The potential for religious entities that adhere to traditional sexual morality is enormous: radio broadcasting licenses, professional licenses, university accreditation, even tax exempt status of faith-based charities. Is this the legal path we have embarked on? If so, what is the fate of religious liberty?
http://www.heritage.org/press/events/ev052206b.cfm
I think the Catholic church just burnt their last bridge to any elected Republicans with their militant demands on behalf of foreign citizens illegally being harbored in the U.S. Sorry, they can't have it both ways. If you want to get into the political debate, you need to choose sides. And they were on the wrong side last month and the bad taste in still in the mouths of too many in the GOP (and no, that wasn't a gay pedophile joke)
Neither. It is a sign of the way things are right now, the persecution is upon us.
Do you know what you're talking about when you claim the Catholic Church supports illegal immigration? What does the Vatican say about it, I'd like to know?
Ping.
Ping
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We sent out letters in our Parish on Sunday regarding this. Our letters are going to Mendenez and Lautenberg. I don't think we got much chance with them, but it can't hurt.
Yes!
Actually I do have a fairly good idea of how the Catholic church works. And I also realize that these Bishops are using their influence as a couple of guys in funny robes in a single city - they are using their authority as leaders in an entire religious community in the US. If Dennis Hastert stands up and whines about something, he isn't doing it because he is from Illinois. He is doing it as a leader in the entire GOP.
I have no illusions about whether these bishops represent the actual membership. Hell, they don't even represent the leadership of the Church (which I do mostly always side with). I'm pointing out that their effort to do something good for families and this country has already been sabotaged by the actions of those tools who already spent the last two months on TV giving away our country to Mexico. (btw, I didn't see a single Catholic group or Bishop or Priest come out against the no-borders campaign. That didn't help matters).
Just like Bush showing up late on the immigration debate, there is a huge credibility loss and a negation of any moral authority which otherwise would have existed. Both Bush and the Bishops here in the U.S. are going to have to spend some time building up some good deeds before they get the support of anybody but foreign nationals, communist cells and democratic special interest groups. Many of the Cardinals already sent droves of worshippers into the wilderness in the last decade with the gay priest recycling program. And for non-Catholics, it all looks the same from the outside.
But with all that being said, I stand with all faithful Catholics who want to protect marriage in this country. People of faith are the only thing standing between forced gay marriage in our places of worship and forced abortion in all faith-based hospitals (see Massachusetts). Even if our leadership fails, we still must stand for what is right.
None of these Bishops wants to move to Mexico and help the poor people there but they expect that Americans should want to do it here. I'd vote for sending Cardinal Mahoney to Mexico City or San Salvador where he can help the poor where they live instead of importing them to Los Angeles where taxpayers get to support them.
And if the Vatican does have some policy on this, I'd like to hear it myself. At this point, the actions ARE the policy in agreement with or absence of any guidance from Rome.
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