Cardinal Mahony and Proposition 8
Several months ago, I made a pledge not to directly criticize any person, no matter what. Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule, even those which do not admit of exceptions. This is one such case.
I do hope the Good Bishop has also reminded Catholics struggling with homosexual inclinations that translating their orientation into disordered acts–be it in thought, word, or deed–is intrinsically sinful. Unfortunately, after browsing through His Eminence’ letter, this seems not to be the case.
Though, my main complaint is Cardinal Mahony’s dishonesty:
“We are disappointed that the ballot information about Proposition 8 stated that the purpose of the initiative was ‘to ban gay marriage.’ From the very beginning, this was not our purpose.”
Not only is this statement blatantly false–gay marriage was deemed legal in California for a certain period of time, and thus any legislation abrogating such an arrangement is by definition a ban–it comes across as detached and condescending.
The reasons the faithful backed this ballot item are quite obvious; we feel that homosexual acts are either dangerous to the stability of society, an affront to the dignity of marriage, harmful to those who commit them, an insult to reason, a distortion and abuse of love, an abomination to God, or any number of the above. Take your pick.
Moreover, we are not just opposed to same-sex unions, we are opposed to the legalization of any sexual intercourse had outside of lifelong marriage between one man and one woman. Hence, we are opposed to divorce, except in cases involving abuse or fornication. We are also opposed to sex-change operations, artificial contraception, self-mutilation, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning, biogenetic re-engineering of our fellow man, unjust war, unnecessary use of the death-penalty, and of course, abortion.
Any man who maintains otherwise is lying to you, or possibly to himself.
LGBTQ folks need to know exactly why we oppose their demands, and where we stand on other issues as well. Giving them anything less than the truth insults their dignity as members of the human family. They deserve to hear straight-talk (no pun intended) from their brothers and sisters.
