The Passing of The Pope
I don’t know if I should even comment on the passing of the Pope. I’m sure I will offend every Catholic person who will come and read this. Tonight I was at the gym working out. I was on the elliptical trainer. In front of me there were six monitors with different stations on them. Two of the stations were covering the passing of the Pope. Three had different sports going. And one had a reality show about how celebrities react to being chased by the media.
I chose to watch the one about celebrities. Why? Because sports really isn’t my thing and I could give a damn about the passing of the Pope. I’m not Catholic. I do have Catholic friends and most of them do not practice the teachings of the Catholic Church when it comes to birth control, abortion, and a myriad of other things. Which leads me to wonder, why belong to that church? What is the lure?
I had a friend who kept trying to get me to go to a Catholic Church in Hartford. She said that they were much more “enlightened” when it came to gay people and were more “affirming”. Affirming to Catholics means that you can come and be part of their church and take part in communion. It does not mean they will affirm your gay relationship in any way, shape, or form.
I told her that I would never belong to a Catholic Church because the thought of any of my contributions (money) making their way back to Rome was enough to turn my stomach.
Why do I feel so strongly you say? Well, this is what this Pope had to say about people like me. We are....
- “gravely immoral”
- “intrinsically disordered”
- “deviant”
- “against the natural moral law”
I’m sorry, but I know for a fact that I’m probably one of the most moral people I have ever met in my life. I am “deviant” from 90% of people based on being a homosexual. From the majority of people I’ve come to know, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to deviate from the norm. Most people are shallow, have no value for friendship, let alone others, and wouldn’t help anyone in need. That’s not me.
I first wrote about the Pope on August 1, 2003. I had hoped that over time, he would change. He didn’t. Now, all I hear on the news is what a great man he was and how much he brought people together. Yet, I have never felt more alienated from Catholics than I do today. To me, that is his legacy.
It matters not to me. I am not Catholic. It bothered me more that I had to be bothered by seeing it on the monitors in front of me. Is that bad? I could sit here and lie to you, but it wouldn’t change a thing.
Food for thought...
Jesus might have been homosexual, says the first openly gay bishop.
And finally, this...
There are many more things that can be said about Pope John Paul II, but what cannot be said of this Pope is that he reached out to the Gay and Lesbian Community. He did not show that same love and respect for individual Gay and Lesbian People. With all his journeys this was one journey he could not, or would not take. He believed in Universal Truths, he could not allow those truths to be challenged in any way, especially by the reality of Gay and Lesbian lives.
For many Gay and Lesbian Catholics we believe this moment in history is a bittersweet moment. We mourn a lost opportunity of pastoral outreach from John Paul II, we also mourn his death. Going forward we look in hope to a new Pope who may be willing to make a pastoral journey to Gay/Lesbian Community that Pope John Paul II was unable to make. (source)
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thank god for people like rep.mike lawlor,but if more gays would let there voice be heard we would already be allowed to marry,not all straight people are evil,but please understand i come from a very small town in ohio and when i came out and told people i was gay,i was hauled off to a doctor and was told to keep it to myself,i fell in love at 14 with the all american boy,there was only one problem,our society said it was wrong for me and him to be together and to be in love,we where very much in love and wanted to be together,but the pressure of his parents and society drove us our separate ways,he now is married with 3 kids and is cheif of radiology at a hospital,i know one day i will find mr.right but lets hope that i can choose to marry or not,and as for straight people i have many friends who are straight,but most straight people who dont know us look at us as we are freaks,that is all i was trying to say earlier.
"Answer me this please? there is not a person on earth that is for gay rights,other than other gay people,they may say we are for the gay's,but deep down we are not worth there time"
I don't agree with that. In Connecticut, Rep. Mike Lawlor has introduced a Civil Union Bill. Next year, he has publically stated that he intends to introduce and personally push a bill for full gay marriage for gay couples. Mike Lawlor is a straight man who is married with children. He has risked considerable political capital to make this happen, and, he didn't have too. His goal is to make Connecticut the first state in the union to voluntarily offer full marriage to gay couples, without being told to do so by a court. Behind Rep. Lawlor are countless straight people who fully understand that discrimination is wrong. Without our straight friends, this legislation would never see the light of day. And by the way, most of my dear friends are STRAIGHT PEOPLE.
"so why should the pope care about us,i think pope john paul was a good man,but every humman has the right to voice there own views,maybe one day we will be treated with the same pespect as heterosexuals"
Pope John Paul II was a bitter evil bastard. He was NOT A GOOD MAN. He totally demonized our community. I'm not going to lose an ounce of sleep over his passing. The truly unfortunate thing about his reign was his ability to create many new bishops who feel just the same way he does. The next Pope will be no better.
"i think god loves us all,we dont have to go to church and give our money to prechers that use the money for big house and fancy cars to make it to heaven,as long as we have love in our hearts i think we will be just fine."
Did Pope John Paul II have love in his heart for us? Can you honestly say he did? He called us "evil". How much love is there in that?
When I think of the Pope, I think of a man who swore off women, lived with men, and walked around in public wearing dresses.
Bill
Your views almost exactly mirror my own, and like you I had to write about it in my blog - if people are offended then it is just too bad; they adhere to an organisation which may have done some good throughout history, but definitely has perpetrated some pretty deplorable wrongs and continues to do so today (of course, The Roman Catholic church is not the only faith-based organisation to be guilty of that, as evangelicals and others have a lot to answer for, too).
Answer me this please? there is not a person on earth that is for gay rights,other than other gay people,they may say we are for the gay's,but deep down we are not worth there time,so why should the pope care about us,i think pope john paul was a good man,but every humman has the right to voice there own views,maybe one day we will be treated with the same pespect as heterosexuals,i think god loves us all,we dont have to go to church and give our money to prechers that use the money for big house and fancy cars to make it to heaven,as long as we have love in our hearts i think we will be just fine.
You forgot that just months ago he said our families were "part of the new ideology of evil."
I'm certainly not mourning him.
I was hoping that the pope will live a few more days, just to piss off the news media that were reporting on nothing else but that stupid old man.
How's that for offending catholics?
Dan