Sort of reminds me of another group of Godly bigots who also dressed in white chasuble like sheets. US bishops issue pastoral letter on marriage, condemn contraception, homosexual unions
November 18, 2009 Catholic News Service
The bishops of the United States have issued a 60-page pastoral letter on marriage that offers an overview of Catholic teaching on the sacrament while addressing the challenges posed by contraception, same-sex unions, divorce, and cohabitation.
The draft of the document, which earned praise from pro-life and pro-family leaders, underwent nearly 100 changes before it was approved by a 180-45 margin. For example, in the section on contraception-- which cites Humanae Vitae seven times-- the sentence “this is an intrinsically evil action” was changed and expanded to
This is objectively wrong in and of itself and is essentially opposed to God’s plan for marriage and proper human development. It makes the act of intercourse signify, or speak, something less than the unreserved self-gift intended in the marriage promises. (I see where our gutless bishops really don't want to offend all those contracepting couples by calling contraception intrinsically evil and equating contraception with homosexuality.)
The draft’s key paragraph condemning the legal recognition of homosexual unions remained unchanged:
The legal recognition of same-sex unions poses a multifaceted threat to the very fabric of society, striking at the source from which society and culture come and which they are meant to serve. Such recognition affects all people, married and non-married: not only at the fundamental levels of the good of the spouses, the good of children, the intrinsic dignity of every human person, and the common good, but also at the levels of education, cultural imagination and influence, and religious freedom.
(This is absolutely stunning in it's totally unsupported condemnation. It's a statement worthy of Joseph Goebbels.)
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There should be no more question about where the USCCB stands when it comes to gays. Uncloseted partnered gays are the epitome of evil, and threaten everything and everybody. This is called catastrophizing and it is indicative of a serious endemic institutional personality disorder. This statement by the USCCB is not pastoral, it is pathological. This kind of language is very incendiary and dangerous. It follows in the footsteps of Benedict's 1987 Halloween letter. See this post on Bilgrimage for an example of how this kind of language ACTUALLY impacts the REAL world.
What makes this even worse is that the USCCB also changed the 'intrinsically evil' language they had originally used for co habitating heterosexuals in one of their 'amendments'. I suppose co habitation, like birth control, is now just objectively wrong, as opposed to no doubt about it evil.
In other words, all those heterosexual marital sins, including divorce, may be less than perfect, but they are not the intrinsically evil acts of gays. Apparently none of these heterosexual less than perfect acts threaten all people, married and non married, the intrinsic dignity of humanity, the fundamental levels of the good of the spouses, the good of children, the common good, education, and cultural imagination and influence.
Well guess what? I can cite study after study from the REAL SCIENTIFIC world, which proves heterosexual co habitation and divorce harm all those societal goods--especially children. I can even find multiple well done studies which show the children of lesbian couples do better in society than the children of straight couples, especially in advocating social justice issues. But what's REALITY got to do with our bishops when it comes to gays? Absolutely nothing.
None of what the bishops have written about gays, nor any of their actions towards gays, is about Christian love or concern for souls. It is purely pathological. One only need read these gross and unfounded generalizations, note the lies and distortions in the anti gay marriage crusade, listen to the scapegoating of gay priests for the abuse scandal, and note the exclusive use of the terms 'intrinsically evil' as applied to gays to see the pathology.
But it is oh so traditional to scapegoat a marginalized class of 'evil others' in order to secure a false hold on authority. Lest anyone think this process will stop with gays, check this out. Sarah Palin has now been classified as pro choice by the 'traditional' right. Anyone who thinks this kind of violence can't be done to them, that they are part of the 'in' crowd, had best think twice. In this kind of pathology anyone is fair game because duplicitous delusion reigns. See Carrie Prejean.
