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Created Male and Female: An Open Letter from Religious Leaders
US COnference of Catholic Bishops ^ | 12/15/1/7

Posted on 12/16/2017 10:59:28 AM PST by iowamark

Dear Friends:

As leaders of various communities of faith throughout the United States, many of us came together in the past to affirm our commitment to marriage as the union of one man and one woman and as the foundation of society. We reiterate that natural marriage continues to be invaluable to American society.

We come together to join our voices on a more fundamental precept of our shared existence, namely, that human beings are male or female and that the socio-cultural reality of gender cannot be separated from one's sex as male or female.

We acknowledge and affirm that all human beings are created by God and thereby have an inherent dignity. We also believe that God created each person male or female; therefore, sexual difference is not an accident or a flaw—it is a gift from God that helps draw us closer to each other and to God. What God has created is good. "God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Gen 1:27).

A person's discomfort with his or her sex, or the desire to be identified as the other sex, is a complicated reality that needs to be addressed with sensitivity and truth. Each person deserves to be heard and treated with respect; it is our responsibility to respond to their concerns with compassion, mercy and honesty. As religious leaders, we express our commitment to urge the members of our communities to also respond to those wrestling with this challenge with patience and love.

Children especially are harmed when they are told that they can "change" their sex or, further, given hormones that will affect their development and possibly render them infertile as adults. Parents deserve better guidance on these important decisions, and we urge our medical institutions to honor the basic medical principle of "first, do no harm." Gender ideology harms individuals and societies by sowing confusion and self-doubt. The state itself has a compelling interest, therefore, in maintaining policies that uphold the scientific fact of human biology and supporting the social institutions and norms that surround it.

The movement today to enforce the false idea—that a man can be or become a woman or vice versa—is deeply troubling. It compels people to either go against reason—that is, to agree with something that is not true—or face ridicule, marginalization, and other forms of retaliation.

We desire the health and happiness of all men, women, and children. Therefore, we call for policies that uphold the truth of a person's sexual identity as male or female, and the privacy and safety of all. We hope for renewed appreciation of the beauty of sexual difference in our culture and for authentic support of those who experience conflict with their God-given sexual identity.

Sincerely Yours:

Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera Bishop of Scranton Chairman, USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs

The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach Archbishop and Primate Anglican Church in North America

The Rev. John F. Bradosky Bishop North American Lutheran Church

Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Archbishop of Philadelphia Chairman, USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth

Most Rev. James D. Conley Bishop of Lincoln Chairman USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage

The Rt. Rev. John A. M. Guernsey Bishop, Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic Anglican Church in North America

Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison President Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod

Imam Faizal Khan Founder and Leader Islamic Society of the Washington Area

Most Rev. Joseph E. Kurtz Archbishop of Louisville Chairman USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty

Melchisedek Archbishop of Pittsburgh Orthodox Church in America

The Rt. Rev. Eric V. Menees Bishop, San Joaquin Anglican Church in North America

Rev. Eugene F. Rivers, III Founder and Director Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies Church of God in Christ

Rev. Dr. Gregory P. Seltz, PhD Executive Director The Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty

The Rev. Paull Spring Bishop Emeritus The North American Lutheran Church

Rev. Tony Suarez Executive Vice President National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Very Rev. Nathanael Symeonides Ecumenical Officer Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

The Rev. Dr. L. Roy Taylor Stated Clerk, General Assembly Presbyterian Church in America

Andrew Walker Director of Policy Studies Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

The Rev. Dr. David Wendel Assistant to the Bishop for Ministry and Ecumenism The North American Lutheran Church

Paul Winter Elder Bruderhof


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: anglican; baptist; catholic; lutheran; orthodox; presbyterian
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1 posted on 12/16/2017 10:59:28 AM PST by iowamark
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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/let-clarity-and-compassion-define-sexual-identity-debates-bishops-say-17464
“Let clarity and compassion define sexual identity debates, bishops say”


2 posted on 12/16/2017 11:00:41 AM PST by iowamark
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To: iowamark

If one in 10,000 pastors comes out for gay marriage, they get wall-to-wall coverage. The vast majority get silenced.


3 posted on 12/16/2017 11:04:21 AM PST by Fido969 (In!)
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To: iowamark
Oh that's just so 6,000 years ago!

[ Leftists ]

4 posted on 12/16/2017 11:04:53 AM PST by DoughtyOne (McConnell, Ryan, and the whole GOPe are dead to me. Are Alabamans tired of winning?)
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To: iowamark

This Protestant says “well done”


5 posted on 12/16/2017 11:10:33 AM PST by Persevero (Democrats haven't been this nutty since we freed their slaves.)
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To: iowamark

Don’t see a signature by Pope Frankie The Red.


6 posted on 12/16/2017 11:21:11 AM PST by KyCats
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To: iowamark

America has muffed hetero for years. Gay has burgeoned, in part, to fill an ennui vacuum.

We must permit ourselves to be humbled under the mighty hand of God. Pride didn’t begin with Gay. It continued there.


7 posted on 12/16/2017 11:22:23 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Tryin' hard to win the No-Bull Prize.)
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To: iowamark

There is no socio-cultural reality of gender. It refers to a collective delusion.


8 posted on 12/16/2017 11:22:56 AM PST by I want the USA back (*slam is not a religion. It is a political movement to establish a religion.)
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To: KyCats

Well it IS a US thang


9 posted on 12/16/2017 11:23:23 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Tryin' hard to win the No-Bull Prize.)
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To: Fido969

They also get demonized and threatened or pushed out of the mainstream.

Imagine our grandfathers thinking that ANYONE who is in power would declare that two males sodomizing each other is “love” and should be embraced in culture as “marriage” which destroys the whole concept of the word. Removes logic and reason from language which WILL destroy the culture when you destroy most words, like rainbow, liberty, right, natural, good, evil and flip them. It creates INSANITY-—total irrational children who embed this insanity.

The promotion of irrationality (Marxism) needs to destroy the minds of little children—get them away form their biological “parents” and destroy their natural instincts and Reason and Logic——for transhumanism of J. Huxley-—for their “utopia” of the NWO-—where human beings are so dehumanized and devoid of identity, understanding of Traditions and past so it can all be rewritten and CONTROLLED (like Common Core-—to FORCE certain emotions in little children (like sodomy is Good and Natural, as is baby-killing). Children will be unable to use Reason (Western Civilization will collapse) and they will be like all the slave/serf/tribal cultures of the past, where pederasty, pedophilia, slavery, misogyny, polygamy, bestiality, is “normal” and “natural” because of the ejection of Rule of Law (Higher Laws/God’s Laws). Western Civilization will be no more-—no Age of Reason, no Modern Science for the masses-—just controlled—everything from thinking, driving, living will be programmed and controlled by he few elites and they will kill the useless eaters to protect their playground. Language and Words and Traditions are ejected, for insanity and complete slavery, loss of Free Will—total dehumanization—complete removal from Reality and Truth (God).

Control of the Narrative (words) by Marxists since the 1950s have gotten us to this INSANITY since they infiltrated ALL our institutions and publishing agencies, textbooks, and Hollyweird (perverts)-—which is warping all desires and understanding of Reality in our children. Children are totally programmed—removed from their Natural parents and put into mass indoctrination centers at younger and younger ages until their reality is only a programmed “bot” reality.

They banned Truth (God) by the end of the 60s in “skools” for emotions only and flipping good and evil in minds of children. It is in all in totally controlled Common Core now—the Marxist vile “utopian” worldview—which is weaponized curricula to destroy logic and reason in children-—and esp. in math. Get your children and grandchildren OUT of the indoctrination centers and unplugged from dehumanizing screens, and group together with like-minded parents and tutor your own children like the greatest minds of the past. Only allow God-centered people to instill “values” in your children. I wouldn’t allow atheists EVER to have control over my children.


10 posted on 12/16/2017 11:42:50 AM PST by savagesusie (When Law ceases to be Just, it ceases to be Law. (Thomas A./Founders/John Marshall)/Nuremberg)
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To: iowamark

Thank you for this post. It is good to hear the U S Catholic bishops continue to recognize we are born male or female and this is by God’s force. Also, they recognize the nuclear family under a man + woman marriage is the foundation of human society.

We can only hope most U S Christians, Jews and those who follow a similar ethical/Moral system continue to support this view.


11 posted on 12/16/2017 11:56:27 AM PST by RicocheT (Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.)
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To: iowamark

When someone is drawn to putting their hands on a hot stove, it is cruel to tell that that is good, and compassionate to tell them they are doing something wrong and need to stop.


12 posted on 12/16/2017 12:23:42 PM PST by Architect of Avalon
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To: KyCats

Francis calls good evil and evil good.


13 posted on 12/16/2017 12:24:34 PM PST by Architect of Avalon
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To: iowamark
Imam Faizal Khan Founder and Leader Islamic Society of the Washington Area

Taqiyya

14 posted on 12/16/2017 12:44:50 PM PST by onedoug
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To: DoughtyOne

What the heck? Aren’t there about 56 different gender identities? These guys are saying there are two sexes, male and female? What world do they live in ????

(sarcasm)


15 posted on 12/16/2017 12:46:14 PM PST by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Dilbert San Diego

LOL

It would be fun to engage these folks, they it might damage their psyches for life.


16 posted on 12/16/2017 1:12:41 PM PST by DoughtyOne (McConnell, Ryan, and the whole GOPe are dead to me. Are Alabamans tired of winning?)
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To: KyCats
Pope Francis is actually quite Catholic on the gender issue.

While we're at it, here's my own old, not-updated and not- complete, but still pretty robust link list of the Pope speaking out in favor of traditional marriage morality and against gay marriage and radical "gender theory" over just over the course of a couple of months:

What, you haven't seen these in the mainstream media, either?

Ever wonder why?


LINKS:

New Pope Francis called homosexual "marriage" a "machination of the Father of Lies"

Pope Francis: Gender Theory Is a Threat to Society

Pope: Marriage between man and woman is threatened by gender ideology

Pope Francis: "Children have a 'Right' to a Mother and Father"

Pope Francis: marriage inscribed in creation (Man/Woman)

A Letter to Pope Francis (Pope defends man-woman marriage)

Pope: Men, Women 'Different'

Pope Rejects 'So-Called Gender Theory'

Pope Francis Defends Human Nature Against Gender Radicals

Pope's Shocking Hitler Youth Comparison (Pope blasts gender theory)

Vatican says 'no' to transsexual godparents amid Spain controversy

The Family As God Wills it, 0ne man and one woman, is being deformed

Pope Francis Against Gay Marriage, Gay Adoption

Pope Francis supports Slovak effort to ban gay marriage, adoption

Pope Bemoans Gay Lobby (LINK)

Gay Advocacy Groups Rush to Demonize Pope Francis

Pope Francis Tells Couples To Wait Until Marriage To Have Sex

Pope strongly defends Catholic teaching against contraception

Pope Francis clear on denying Communion to those who facilitate in abortion

The Closed Door of Pope Francis (Speaks against abortion, divorce, and homosexuality)

Pope Francis and the family, the next step (pro-Traditional Family)

Pope Francis is starting to look a lot like Sarah Palin (Guardian UK dumps Francis)

Pope Francis refuses gay French ambassador

Kasper is Not the Pope's Theologian, Says Leading African Cardinal

Cardinal Burke Denies Rift With Pope, Warns of Gay Agenda for Synod

Pope Rejected Gay French Diplomat as Ambassador to Holy See

Pope Francis condemns gender theory a third time: 'The family is under attack'

Pope Francis defends church's opposition to artificial contraception

Pope Francis: 'The Choice To Not Have Children Is Selfish'

Pope declares couples who don’t want kids 'selfish,' says they are part of a 'greedy generation'

Pope Francis on abortion: 'Never, never does killing a person resolve a problem'

Pope Francis praises Chilean mother who chose life for baby with anencephaly at heart of abortion debate

Bringing children into the world is never a 'mistake': Pope Francis

Don't be afraid to have more children: Pope Francis

Pope Francis Defends Human Nature Against Gender Radicals

Pope's Shocking Hitler Youth Comparison (Pope blasts gender theory)

Pope to Catholic couples: you can't get married if you're not open to children

Pope Francis praises Humanae Vitae, warns of attacks on family

Pope Didn't Bless 'Gender Theory' Children’s Books

Pope Francis unwavering in his opposition to same-sex marriage (Slovenia vote)

Pope Urges Slovenia to Oppose Gay Marriage as Country Heads to Ballot Box (Breitbart)

"The true meaning of human sexuality in God's plan" is heterosexual marriage

Pope Prays at Ugandan "Anti-Gay" Saints' Shrine

Pope Francis condemns abortion - “We’ve reduced unborn babies to mere matter”

THE ILLUSTRATED PRO-LIFE POPE FRANCIS

`

`

`

`

`

Pope Francis?

Is this the Pope you were looking for??


17 posted on 12/16/2017 1:14:31 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("Let us commend ourselves, and one another, and our whole life, unto Christ Our God.")
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To: iowamark

It was a big mistake of America never to have defined marriage to be only between a man and a woman.


18 posted on 12/16/2017 2:18:18 PM PST by 353FMG
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To: savagesusie

The battle against atheism begins in your own heart, Susie.


19 posted on 12/16/2017 2:28:44 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Tryin' hard to win the No-Bull Prize.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Francis is struggling with what to do with mores that have gotten wooden. These aren’t plagued with that issue. Maybe as a bachelor, absence has made his heart grow fonder. Has any pope quit to get married?


20 posted on 12/16/2017 2:33:31 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Tryin' hard to win the No-Bull Prize.)
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