How Gays and (Real) Catholics can Coexist

It was not so long ago, historically speaking, that the Roman Catholic Church condemned religious liberty as a perfidious doctrine foreign to the apostolic faith and one to be fought at every available opportunity. It was likewise not so long ago that Blessed Pius IX ordered the kidnapping of a young Jewish boy who had been baptized by his nurse, separating him permanently from his parents and raising him as a Catholic. Of course, 150 years on, the sight of Popes praying with Rabbis at the Western Wall and in synagogues has become a perfectly normal one.  In a move which undoubtedly set Bl. Pius spinning in his sarcophagus, Vatican II declared in no uncertain terms that “the human person has a right to religious freedom.” What, exactly, changed between the 19^th and 20^th centuries? It is certainly not doctrine, for the Catholic Church knows no development of doctrine which would contradict what came before. No, what happened was a shift in practical realities and a corresponding adjustment by the Church. This shift in approach, accepted by most of the world’s Catholics and conservative Christians, has deep ramifications in unexpected places; namely, in Pauline Christianity’s relationship with homosexuals.

The Catholic Church should accept gay marriage in the same way and for the same reasons it has accepted religious pluralism. Tolerance does not equate approval, and the same toleration which we extend to other religious communities should equally be extended to alternative lifestyles. I’m convinced that the only reason most homosexuals treat conservatives Christians as pariahs, and at every opportunity marginalize them from the public square, is because they see us as an existential threat to their liberty. This perception isn’t some grand, leftist delusion. It’s the only logical conclusion they can come to when observing the behavior and rhetoric of mainstream Christian leaders over the past 35 years. When Pope Benedict XVI referred to the gay rights movement as a threat to humanity on par with global warming, or when Pope Francis asserted that gay rights is “a plot from the Father of lies,” can we honestly blame the LGBQT community for seeing us as anything less than a threat? I don’t think so.

Of course, the LGBQT community has much to answer for as well. Just because someone holds the same sexual ethics as Jesus, Gandhi, the Buddha and Martin Luther King Jr. doesn’t automatically mean that they’re a bigot. The LGBQT community needs to accept the fact that religious opposition to alternative sexualities can, in fact, stem from intellectually respectable worldviews. They also need to denounce the increasing incidences of anti-Christian bigotry, such as the crucifixion of former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich and the more recent persecution of artistic director, and Mormon, Scott Eckern.  It is precisely these sorts of incidents which force many religious conservatives to see LGBQT equality as directly inimical to religious freedom, and the LGBQT community has just as much of a responsibility to end this conflict as the religious conservatives.

Coexistence is most definitely possible, but it will necessitate both sides laying down their arms, agreeing to disagree and letting one another live in peace. Fellow Christians: gays are not going to destroy the family any more than no-fault divorce has, and if you need somebody to blame, blame the Protestants for accepting it in the first place.  We have bigger fish to fry than gay marriage, like the millions of abortions taking place every year and the steep decline in religious faith of any kind. Gays: We’re not your enemies. We (for the most part) genuinely care about your happiness and spiritual health. For whatever wrongs we have committed against you in the name of God, we apologize unreservedly and beg your forgiveness. We also ask, however, that you accept us for who we are and what we believe. Don’t ask us to alter the Word of God to accommodate your lifestyles. Just as we need to stay out of your bedrooms, you need to stay out of our Bibles.

I believe that we can make it out of this mess together. Let us pray that, at the dawn of a new decade, people of all religious backgrounds and sexual orientations can find it within themselves to live together in peace.