“Gay” Priests and Indulgence of Homosexuality
David Carlin: If we are determined to be “tolerant,” as the secular world wishes us to be tolerant, we'll be enemies of the Church and the Gospel too.
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Alan:
The Catholic Church is sex-obsessed.
Notably, this fixation with carnality presents more perilous moral risk than sins of the flesh themselves. (It is not insignificant that two direct ancestors of Jesus Himself, Tamar and Rahab, were prostitutes.)
Please note that greed, not sex, is the pathognomic sin of our age and, as such, deserves more attention than sexual immorality.
I am not arguing in support of promiscuity or quiescence when confronting the systemic monstrosity of priestly pederasty.
However, the swollen ranks of Christian prudes alone will undertake more than enough counter-productive finger-wagging at "the lustful."
Aquinas always argued on behalf of perspective-and-proportion, and to that end, Chesterton has this to say about the disordered instinct that makes people rich:
"In the olden days it... was fully understood. The Greeks enshrined it in the story of Midas, of the 'Golden Touch.' Here was a man who turned everything he laid his hands upon into gold. His life was a progress amidst riches. Out of everything that came in his way he created the precious metal. 'A foolish legend,' said the wiseacres if the Victorian age. 'A truth,' say we of to-day. We all know of such men. We are ever meeting or reading about such persons who turn everything they touch into gold. Success dogs their very footsteps. Their life's pathway leads unerringly upwards. They cannot fail.
Unfortunately, however, Midas could fail; he did. His path did not lead unerringly upward. He starved because whenever he touched a biscuit or a ham sandwich it turned to gold. That was the whole point of the story, though the writer has to suppress it delicately, writing so near to a portrait of Lord Rothschild. The old fables of mankind are, indeed, unfathomably wise; but we must not have them expurgated in the interests of Mr. Vanderbilt. We must not have King Midas represented as an example of success; he was a failure of an unusually painful kind. Also, he had the ears of an ass. Also (like most other prominent and wealthy persons) he endeavoured to conceal the fact. It was his barber (if I remember right) who had to be treated on a confidential footing with regard to this peculiarity; and his barber, instead of behaving like a go-ahead person of the Succeed-at-all-costs school and trying to blackmail King Midas, went away and whispered this splendid piece of society scandal to the reeds, who enjoyed it enormously. It is said that they also whispered it as the winds swayed them to and fro. I look reverently at the portrait of Lord Rothschild; I read reverently about the exploits of Mr. Vanderbilt. I know that I cannot turn everything I touch to gold; but then I also know that I have never tried, having a preference for other substances, such as grass, and good wine. I know that these people have certainly succeeded in something; that they have certainly overcome somebody; I know that they are kings in a sense that no men were ever kings before; that they create markets and bestride continents. Yet it always seems to me that there is some small domestic fact that they are hiding, and I have sometimes thought I heard upon the wind the laughter and whisper of the reeds.
At least, let us hope that we shall all live to see these absurd books about Success covered with a proper derision and neglect. They do not teach people to be successful, but they do teach people to be snobbish; they do spread a sort of evil poetry of worldliness. The Puritans are always denouncing books that inflame lust; what shall we say of books that inflame the viler passions of avarice and pride?" (from GKC's "Democracy and Industrialism," 1932)
In our time, we have normalized greed and, seduced by all-consuming consumerism, now feel "at home" with avarice. Greed is part of the family, often the central part, the very axle around which crazed careerism and the consolation prize of acquisitiveness revolve.
Consider.
American Christians (including about half of Catholic Christians) have elected -- as model for our children, ourselves and our world -- a president who flaunts greed as virtue.
At least, let us hope that we shall all live to see these absurd books about Success covered with a proper derision and neglect. They do not teach people to be successful, but they do teach people to be snobbish; they do spread a sort of evil poetry of worldliness. The Puritans are always denouncing books that inflame lust; what shall we say of books that inflame the viler passions of avarice and pride?" (from GKC's "Democracy and Industrialism," 1932)
In our time, we have normalized greed and, seduced by all-consuming consumerism, now feel "at home" with avarice. Greed is part of the family, often the central part, the very axle around which crazed careerism and the consolation prize of acquisitiveness revolve.
Consider.
American Christians (including about half of Catholic Christians) have elected -- as model for our children, ourselves and our world -- a president who flaunts greed as virtue.
"The Love Of Money Is The Root Of All Evil" - An Open Invitation To Christian Conservatives
Next time you're tempted to rail against "the promiscuous" -- particularly homosexuals who are promiscuous -- at least ask yourself if your priorities are right.
Follow the money.
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