My opinion on this topic does not come directly from a certain scriptural passage or a quote by some saint that died years ago it comes instead from more general teachings and the evolution of our religion. It is not easy to argue with the Bible, it was written a long time ago by people a lot more religious than I, except to say that it was written along time ago by people. The Bible was written by human hands and inspired by God - neither The Father, Son, or Holy Spirit wrote the Bible. This means, although perhaps it may be an unpopular and slightly risky view to have, there is a possibility that everything written in it is not one hundred percent what God intended it to be. We are taught that God created humans in his image, that God is love, and God does not make mistakes so that means that everyone must be exactly the way he intended them to be.  That goes for every gender, every race, every creed, and even every homosexual, because we are all his and he loves us all.

               It is true that thousands of years of our religion are based on the teachings of the Bible and I am in no way insinuating that we totally disregard its words. However consider this, there have been verses of the Bible that have been disregarded because they do not belong in our world today.  Some examples of this are Leviticus 25:44 which states that a person can possess slaves, Leviticus 21:20 which says that you must have perfect sight to approach the alter of the Lord, and Exodus 35:2 which says that if someone works on the Sabbath they are to be put to death.  Now nobody in their right mind can say that these belong in our modern world so who are we to say that Leviticus 18:22, which states that homosexuality is an abomination, should stand either. Furthermore if God hates gay people so much, is not it interesting that Jesus did not say anything concerning homosexuality? Jesus has plenty to say about hypocrites who condemn other people while concealing their own sins. Also, while Jesus never explicitly forbid homosexuality he did plainly condemned divorce in the Sermon on the Mount yet we do not make an uproar about that because that has become acceptable in today’s American culture.    

As for the question of whether homosexuals should be allowed to marry (or at least have civil equality to straight couples) I say that it would solve a lot of problems. The religious have said that homosexuals are all about promiscuous sex and having a lot of partners, yet when they want to settle down they will not let them. Why should not two people who love each other be given the rights that would be granted to them if they were straight? Marriage lost its sanctity along time ago with the popularization of premarital sex, the quickie wedding, and the divorce rate soaring.  I know plenty of gay couples that have been together for 10, 20, and even 50 years but because they are not man and woman they will ruin the “perfect state of marriage”. I understand that only a man and woman can create a child but that does not mean two men or two women cannot have a loving relationship, and that relationship can help raise a child because there are plenty of babies and children that need homes and plenty of gay couples who have a lot of love to share.  You should also realize that homosexual couples would not shun babies that for one reason or another are born with AIDS.  AIDS as we all know is not just caused by homosexuals but many of these babies are left to be cared for in institutions isn’t it better that a loving couple raise this child whether they be two men, two women, or a male and female couple.  I think God would rather these children have love for what ever period of time they have then to be left alone and again homosexual couples have that loving spirit.

            So should gay people have equal rights to marry? San Francisco Archbishop William Levada said that if marriage went “beyond a union of a man and a women, their procreative capacity and their establishment of family represents a misguided understanding of marriage itself.” (National News) When a couple marries they have to be open to the idea of children so many would say that since a gay couple cannot procreate naturally, that they should not be allowed to marry, however just because they cannot procreate does not mean that they are incapable of raising and loving a child. Many people criticize this new type of family, “same sex parents with kids from divorce, adoption, or artificial insemination.” (Remaking the American family); but long before these practices were being scrutinized for their use by homosexual couples, they were applauded for allowing couples that were unable to conceive naturally to become parents.

            The opposite view is that a ban on gay marriage is just another way to take away Human Dignity. “The ban is simply about prejudice… much like the state laws barring interracial marriage, which lasted until 1967, when the Supreme Court struck them down in Loving v. Virginia” (New York Times).   I do not know that I would go that far but I do agree that the ban is unfair because keeping gay people from marrying also denies them many rights that we as straight people take for granted.  When a straight person finds the person that he or she wants to share his or her life with he or she can get married and the second that marriage certificate is signed, those two people are given a wealth of rights. You might wonder exactly how many rights I am talking about, 10 or maybe 30, perhaps even 100 but according to many famous activists- including Melissa Ethridge, Sir Elton John, and Sir Ian McKlenlan- the total number of marriage rights that homosexual couples are denied is 1138!!! Even people in a “common law marriage” are given them. Gay people do not have that privilege. A straight person never has to worry that if his or her spouse gets ill, the hospital will not let he or she stay or that he or she is not covered by their partner’s insurance. Straight people also never have to worry that because there is no legally binding certificate of their love, that upon the death of their lover they have nothing. However gay couples must be conscience of these issues everyday, knowing that they have to work extra hard, always take the extra step, just to prove that they love each other.

“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them”. (Genesis 1:27)  Well I believe this makes it clear that humans were created with two genders and in God’s image. No Christian will deny that fact and most people defend their anti-homosexual sentiment by saying that this scripture proves their point because it states that God started the world with Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve. While this is true - and itis obvious that two men cannot procreate - notice that there is actually nothing that says there is anything wrong with homosexuality or even addresses the issue. More over, the point that says “God created man in His own image” is never thought to mean that every man (and woman) is exactly the way God - the infallible God - intended them to be.

            Then there are the Ten Commandments or more specifically the sixth and ninth commandments “Thou shalt not commit adultery” and “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife” ((Exodus 34:28). The definition of adultery is marital infidelity, which is really what these two commandments deal with. These commandments were expanded upon in the New Testament; “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a man to lust after him hath committed an abomination with him already in his heart” (Matthew 5). Since the Church rejects the idea of a man marrying another man or a woman marrying another woman there are two ways to look at these commandments    1) Homosexuals are not meant to have sexual relations or 2) it is hypocritical for people to point to this as a reason because at the time the Bible was written, homosexuality was an unspeakable topic.  (Matthew 5 repeats this statement again by substituting man with women).

            Another New Testament quote went as far as to call homosexuals evil: “Surely you know that the wicked will not possess God’s kingdom. Do not fool yourselves; people who are adulterers or homosexual perverts … none of these will possess God’s kingdom”. (Corinthians 9-10) Is not it a little stereotypical to say that all homosexuals are wicked? People have long made negative stereotypes to put down people who are different, and this is a perfect example of this.

        More importantly, there are many New Testament quotes that say that we should not condemn or act negatively toward homosexuals.  “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (Matt 7:1) this is saying that if you do not want to be judged do not judge others. “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31), the golden rule: treat someone the way you want to be treated. Then there is: Ye have heard that it hath been said; Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matt 5:43-44).  What Jesus’ amendment to the old law did was say that we should love everyone, not hate so I believe that this means that God loves everyone as well. 

Homosexuality has been a controversial and well-debated topic in our society for many years and perhaps more than any other group, organized religion has made no attempt to hide their disapproval. Some people have even gone as far as to that homosexuals- particularly the males- are violating the first commandment because they look at sex as a god. This is extremely stereotypical because most gay men do not spend their lives consumed by how many people they have slept with. Because of this, those who are against homosexuality are commonly heard quoting Bible scripture or saying, “God hates fags”.  This has always been interesting because I was taught that God loves everyone. Furthermore, homosexual activity is condemned as being sinful so a common assumption is that if you are gay you must reject either religion or their sexual identity. There are even treatment centers where homosexuals can be “cured” of their homosexuality, therefore changing how God made them. Today society faces the debate over whether homosexuals should have the right to marry so what better topic could I chose to write about.  My goal in writing this is to answer the questions: “Does God hate Gay people?”

Since it is a long and complicated discussion, it will be divided into sections. The first section will contain Sacred Scripture such as the quotes from the Old Testament: Genesis 1:27, Exodus 34:28 Commandment 6, and Exodus 34:28 Commandment 9; and quotes from the New Testament: Corinthians 9 and Matthew 5. The next section will be Tradition, including Church Fathers (Three quotes from St. Augustine), and the Magisterium (Second Vatican Council, Letter of the Congregation, Declaration Persona Humane, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church). The third section will contain thoughts of private theologian such as Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Dionigi Teltamanzi. Section 4 contains the legal aspects of homosexuality - gay marriage. The fifth section will contain my opinion after researching this topic, backing it up with reasoning.

Nick Jonas has so much talent it is borderline annoying. If I didn’t love him so much I would seriously hate him. He wrote A little Bit Longer and it is phenomenal. Here are the lyrics:

Got the news today
Doctor said I had to stay
A little bit longer
And I’ll be fine
When I thought it’d all been done
When I thought it’d all been said
A little bit longer
And I’ll be fine

But you don’t know what you got
‘Till it’s gone
And you don’t know what it’s like
To feel so low
Every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don’t even know
No no
You don’t even know

All this time goes by
Still no reason why
A little bit longer
And I’ll be fine
Waitin’ on a cure
But none of them are sure
A little bit longer
And I’ll be fine

But you don’t know what you got
‘Till it’s gone
And you don’t know what it’s like
To feel so low
And every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don’t even know
No no
You don’t even know
No no

Two, three, four!

Yeah!
And you don’t know what you got
‘Till it’s gone
And you don’t know what it’s like
To feel so low
And every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don’t even know
No
Yeah
Woah!

[Oooohhh]

So I wait ’till kingdom come
All the highs and lows are gone
A little bit longer
And I’ll be fine
I’ll be
Fine 

 I mean he’s not even 16 and he can write that about his diabetes. I contracted Lyme disease at 17 and all I did was cry.

            If you have not noticed by now, Pope John Paul II is very vocal on this topic. Here is another one of his quotes, this one from before he was Pope. “ The human body, with its sex… is… a source of fruitfulness and procreation” (theology of the body).   This makes it sound like the whole purpose of marriage is to procreate. If that were true then infertile people’s marriage would not count either and they of course do.  Homosexuals could always abstain from sex. “Christians who are homosexual are called, as all of us are, to a chaste life.”(Dionigi Teltamanzi) However most of us can get married and stop the chastity, while homosexuals cannot.

Perhaps because ancient cultures believed that only men could fulfill the role of true friends and lovers, some ancient Greeks actually considered homosexuality to be an ideal relationship. When referring to Greek mythology, St. Augustine said, “It was tedious to recount his [Hercules] adulteries of all sorts…. For your gods did not even abstain from males…” (Augustine, Exhortation To the Greeks 2). He also said of conversations about homosexuality,

 “ …Conversation about deeds of wickedness is appropriately termed filthy speaking, as talk about adultery and pederasty and the like” (Augustine, The Instructor 6) and lastly on the story of Sodom, “The Sodomities having, through much luxury, fallen into uncleanness, practicing adultery shamelessly, and burning with insane love for boys.” (Ibid, 8).  Once again we encounter harsh words-wicked, filthy, unclean, etc.  How are people supposed to believe that God has anything but hate for homosexuals when a saint is using such negative words?

            Another interesting quote says that homosexuals are “ contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affection”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church). While I cannot disagree that homosexuals are unable to procreate I do disagree about the second part because who is the Pope to say that two committed men or two committed women do not have the same capacity to love each other as a straight married couple.

Even worse is the insinuation that homosexuals do not have lasting power just because they are homosexuals; “ According to the objective moral order, homosexual relations are acts which lack an essential and indispensable finality”(Declaration persona humane)

The Magisterium says,  “ … We must go back to the beginning, i.e., to God’s creative act: this is what Jesus Christ did with regard to the indissolubility of marriage.” (Second Vatican Council) I find a problem with this because in the beginning (creation) there is no mention of homosexuality, as good or bad.  Non the less apparently, they feel that we must look to the Old Testament for a reason to condemn homosexual activity.

            Another quote by the Magisterium says that homosexuals are just as much God’s children as heterosexuals.

            “The human person made in the image and likeness of God, can hardly be adequately described by a reductionist reference to his or her sexual orientation. Every one living on the face of the earth… a ‘heterosexual’ or a ‘homosexual’… has a fundamental identity: the creature of god and, by his grace, his child and heir to eternal life.”   (Letters of the Congregation - October 1986)

Now that is the way I was taught, everyone loved by God for the way he created them, with a Soul, intellect, and freedom, rather than being condemned for it.

Because my mind, and summer, has been occupied largely by what’s been going on on the AMERICAN IDOLS LIVE TOUR, and because my admiration for the artist grows exponentially as the weeks go by, I have a new blog dedicated just to David Cook.  I will still be blogging here about anything and everything I can think of writing about, you know whatever is on my mind, that won’t change. However, when faced with the option of changing the focus of this blog to just DC or starting a new one, I chose the latter because I still do have other thoughts. My mind isn’t solely revolving around David Cook. So if you want to check it out the link is:  http://davidcook-postidol.today.com/why-david-cook/  new entries are listed on the side. Enjoy

                        Throughout the history of drama the one major aspect has always been the tragic hero. A tragic hero has to be of nobility or royalty and has to be a virtuous person with a tragic flaw.  During this semester we have read about four of these characters: Oedipus in Oedipus Rex, Antigone and Creon in Antigone, and Hamlet in Hamlet.

                        In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’s fate is caused by the sin of huberous, which is feeling that you are as powerful as the gods. When the country of Thebes is plagued because the former king’s death has not been avenged Oedipus, the current king, says that the murderer will be caught and exiled because he believes his word is the word of the gods. He is not aware however that he is the murderer and that his wife is his mother and the king was his father. Upon hearing this, the queen kills herself and Oedipus is exiled.

                        In Antigone, Creon, who was Oedipus’ brother in law and has taken over as king, also is guilty of huberous. He doesn’t listen to anyone who tries to warn him that putting Antigone to death is wrong. He considers himself above all others and the result is the death of his wife, son, and niece. Antigone’s downfall comes from her defiance of Creon and her wish to be a martyr. In the beginning she simply wants to burry her dead brother, which Creon said nobody can do, but we soon learn of her ulterior motives.

                        In Hamlet, Hamlet’s procrastination is the cause of his death as well as the deaths of several other characters. The ghost of Hamlet’s dead father asks him to kill Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle and the current king, because he killed him. However Hamlet puts off performing this act until the very end of the play and as a result seven other characters- Polonius, Ophilia, Rosencratz, Guildenstern, The Queen, Laetes, and Hamlet himself- also lose there lives.

Coloring: It’s probably one of the greatest things about childhood. Well that, candy, and the carefree nature- but I digress. Coloring is awesome and kids just don’t appreciate it. It’s very relaxing and it is time adults took the time to do it. I should explain that I babysit a lot so I color with the children. One of these nights that I was sitting, I had a particularly hard day at college. I was asked to color with the kids and in turn, my stress melted away. So the next time I was stressed I tried it again and it works. In my experience, color can help cure stress, sadness, boredom, and even insomnia. So buy a pack of crayola marker, crayons, or pencils and google coloring sheets.