tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post3133803191497920721..comments2024-03-24T15:19:06.377-04:00Comments on The Continuum: Benedict on GenderFr. Robert Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05892141425033196616noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-31850628337665299192009-01-05T16:03:00.000-05:002009-01-05T16:03:00.000-05:00Thank you, Roz.BTW,everyone, her blog appears to b...Thank you, Roz.<BR/><BR/>BTW,everyone, her blog appears to be a very worthy one. Check it out.<BR/><BR/>edpoetreaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11613032927883843078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-11237884239213839832009-01-05T13:06:00.000-05:002009-01-05T13:06:00.000-05:00I'm very impressed with the high quality of though...I'm very impressed with the high quality of thought (and clearly, much more) that went into your reflections. I've linked to this post from <A HREF="http://exultet.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">here</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-21209050916860537512009-01-05T12:10:00.000-05:002009-01-05T12:10:00.000-05:00Thanks, Fr. John,You've caught precisely the point...Thanks, Fr. John,<BR/><BR/>You've caught precisely the points I consider most important in this discussion. It's not what temptations a person is subject to (or how those temptations arose) that matters, but what he does about those temptations. And, in the light of the Gospel, it's not even that that's of prime importance, but one's repentance for whatever lapses into sin there have been, and, especially, one's faith in Christ as Savior AND Sanctifier. <BR/><BR/>The revisionists are proclaiming a "Gospel" of slavery to the flesh, of inability to be saved and transformed by the Cross. Do I smell brimstone?<BR/><BR/>edpoetreaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11613032927883843078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-19034257460978274182009-01-05T09:56:00.000-05:002009-01-05T09:56:00.000-05:00Let me join the chorus of praise for this excellen...Let me join the chorus of praise for this excellent exposition!<BR/><BR/>I was particularly struck by Ed's statement, "There are those of us who, for whatever reason, genetic, biological, psychological, or social (where it comes from doesn't really matter all that much), find ourselves attracted to members of our own sex."<BR/><BR/>Would that more of the public discourse in this area recognized that "where it comes from doesn't really matter all that much". Saturday afternoon, as I sat waiting for my wife at the hairdresser's, I overheard an elderly woman customer asking one of the young, male operators, "Well, you should know. So tell me, is there a 'gay gene'?"<BR/><BR/>She had obviously been persuaded by the PAECGLS movement's propaganda that subtly suggests that if there is an organic cause for something, then that something must be "natural" (in its ontology rather than in its genesis, which is of course a non sequitur) then it is "O.K." By that "reasoning", of course, we should stop worrying about polio and scarlet fever, as both had demonstrably organic causes. <BR/><BR/>Ed's other great point, which is universally ignored in most discussions, is that "That [particular temptation] is a present reality. It is, so to speak, the hand we've been dealt, and we need to be able to play that hand according to the rules." Very few of those who promote this issue onto the national agenda want to play by any rules, let alone by those society has recognized time out of mind.<BR/><BR/>Instead, the moral revisionists appear to operate on a double standard: for those who are attracted to their own sexes, sexual activity is a necessity of life, right up there with water, food, and shelter. To abstain would be to die a lingering death. For those who are attracted to the opposite sexes, in contrast, restraint can, and sometimes should, be the order of the day.<BR/><BR/>This attitude is beautifully illustrated by the actions of "The Church With the Bishops [Who Do Not Do Their Jobs]": at the very time Vickie Gene Robinson, whose personal predilictions are of the flavor de jour and who was currently living in an irregular arrangement, was being installed as one of its "Bishops", Cy Young, another of those "Bishops" whose personal predilictions are more traditional, was being booted out of the club over an affair that had terminated more than two decades before.<BR/><BR/>In a sane world, of course, Young would still have been disciplined, but so would Robinson have been, and that long before he ever had the chance to stand for election.<BR/><BR/>John A. Hollister+<BR/><BR/>Ah, "hapsit".John A. Hollisterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01325615323834517909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-40920691751092303112008-12-30T08:34:00.000-05:002008-12-30T08:34:00.000-05:00Thanks, Mark.I think you're right that we are at a...Thanks, Mark.<BR/><BR/>I think you're right that we are at a crossroads and that society appears to be in the process of choosing a truly disasterous wring turn. I'm 68, well past the prime of life, but I fully expect to see, in what remains of my lifetime, official and public license for ALL forms of sexual expression and activity - polyamory indeed. With the decisions that have been made and have been declared as expressing the <I>minimum</I> acceptable level of 'equal treatment', there is no logical stopping place. There is no reasonable and consistent limitation that can be placed, even now, on the open practice of an orgiastic way of life. That is tragic, spiritually a denial of God as ruler, and practically, the seed of a complete collapse of society itself.<BR/><BR/>Frankly, I believe that the time when committed Christians can impose God's law on the wider society has passed, and that our role will increasingly be that which the earliest Christians lived, and for which they often died: a counterculture, living by standards denied and even loathed by society, thus living out both a condemnation of evil and an invitation to grace.<BR/><BR/>edpoetreaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11613032927883843078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-8365646287423032002008-12-30T06:11:00.000-05:002008-12-30T06:11:00.000-05:00A very thoughtful and persuasive post, Poetreader....A very thoughtful and persuasive post, Poetreader. You have beautifully demonstrated that humility is a virtue one cannot have in excess.<BR/><BR/>On this specific issue, it seems to me that if traditionally defined marriage is redefined in any degree, then any other definition of "marriage" would have to be accepted by civil law. Anything less would be viewed as "discrimination" by some group.<BR/><BR/>I would not be surprised if in the next few decades polygamy, or "polyamory", made a reappearance on the world stage. <BR/><BR/>BTW - it's somewhat reassuring that spellcheck still doesn't recognize the word "polyamory". Maybe there is hope for us yet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-39573550169678582602008-12-27T14:06:00.000-05:002008-12-27T14:06:00.000-05:00Ed:Wonderful post! Your insights on these issues a...Ed:<BR/>Wonderful post! Your insights on these issues are most welcome. They are relevent and "down to earth". Your willingness to show your own flaws and struggles are an inspiration to others.<BR/><BR/>Blessings!<BR/>David+D. Strawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06368708780155054557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-72531718205138688872008-12-27T08:55:00.000-05:002008-12-27T08:55:00.000-05:00Welcome Anonymous!(It would be helpful if, when yo...Welcome Anonymous!<BR/>(It would be helpful if, when you next visit here, you'd choose a alias, so we can have a feel of whom it is that we are conversing with.)<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your kind words. As you can imagine, it's not easy to write such a post, but when one has the distinct impression that it is the Lord's call to do so, one must. Whether I like it or not, addressing such topics seems to be something I am called to do.<BR/><BR/>Yes, I've noticed that too. The only thing that comes near to comparing with the thon-skinned reaction of gays to the mildest criticism is the thin-skinned treatment of this as the most important of all issues that one so often hears. When Benedict gives a fairly inoffensive recap of what he and the Roman Church at large have been saying about many issues, including this one, some, like Ms Ferguson will take it as a direct personal attack and become angry, while others on the conservative side will also see it as a direct personal attack and act gleeful.<BR/><BR/>This is one issue among many, neither more nor less important than the others, and one which has been settled long, long ago. On the current climate it does need to be reiterated, but we need to remember that loving the sinner, with the love we see illustrated on the Cross is a far higher imperative than is opposing the sin.<BR/><BR/>edpoetreaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11613032927883843078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-23215768444024823382008-12-27T06:38:00.000-05:002008-12-27T06:38:00.000-05:00Many thanks for this thoughtful and insightful pos...Many thanks for this thoughtful and insightful post.<BR/><BR/>In his address to the Curia the Pope in any case did not use the words "homosexual", "bi-sexual" (etc.) and I am quite astounded at the fracas his Curial address, which was an annual resumé of other matters as well as a reference to gender-theory, created in the MSM and the gay and lesbian world. I have many gay friends but sometimes they drive me round the bend with their reasoning and spitting in all directions. I have to add that none of them are Christians.<BR/><BR/>Once again, great appreciation for your great post. I am a heterosexual female who has managed - without great tribulations - to live the, now old-fashioned, celibate life. At 64 I can honestly say that I feel myself as much of a human being, and a fulfilled one at that, as my married and homosexual friends.<BR/><BR/>This seems a wonderful blog, by the way. I'll visit again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com