I'm getting really tired of the Catholic church and its satellite organizations like The Salvation Army giving me and millions of other GLBT people backhanded, misguided love. I'm a Christian, a former Roman Catholic monk, and appreciator of all things spiritual, including the Bible. I completely understand that parts of this book happen to reference homosexual acts in a less than positive light, and I accept that many, many people choose to believe that these words are part of God's law.
What I will never understand, for as long as I shall live, is how smart people, otherwise decent and loving human beings, choose to side with this kind of archaic, idiotic belief instead of with good, decent, wonderful human beings they know who are homosexual. I mean it's one thing to hear your priest say something or even read it yourself in the Bible. But don't you realize how misguided and wrong it is? Don't you see how awful this judgment to your fellow man is for your own soul?
The Salvation Army and many other church organizations like it love telling me and "my kind" how much we are loved and accepted in their organizations. We're welcomed and encouraged to attend their services and meetings. And it's even okay for me to be gay. I just can't do anything with another guy. Huh??!! I'm allowed to be gay, but I just can't do anything gay. Right. "That makes perfect sense." If someone came up to you and said with a smile, "It's okay that you're heterosexual. God loves you! Just don't do anything heterosexual or your soul will be in mortal danger of everlasting damnation in Hell." Wouldn't that irritate you? Wouldn't it make you want to write a commentary like this one after a while, after hearing this same crazy talk over and over and over again?
When someone tells you that you make that bad dress look good, or you make an old-style haircut charming, we call that a backhanded compliment. It's disingenuous and it's unkind. The Salvation Army staff will ring their bells in your face and ask you to donate to their fundraising. They'll even proudly defend themselves by telling you that some of their money helps gay people in need. They just think that if you're homosexual and physically expressing that desire with someone, you're living in sin. That's all.
"Misguided love" is a nice way of putting this kind of awful, un-Christian behavior. Jesus Christ would throw their money buckets over with anger. How dare they! How dare they try and take our money and then claim we're in sin?! It's despicable! Is it legal? Yes. Is the money helping lots and lots of people? Yes. But they, like the Catholic Church itself, are an organization that does not really love people who are not heterosexual. They are just playing nice and being polite and politically correct. And that is the complete, polar opposite of who Jesus Christ was and what he preached. I love Jesus and his teachings, and I'm sad and angry by what these so-called Christian charities get away with in His name. I thank God for the good work they do, but I pray to God they learn how misguided and warped their idea of love really is!
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