One of the authors included in “Living the Truth in Love: Pastoral Approaches to Same-Sex Attraction,” published by Ignatius Press, will speak at a pro-gay Christian forum; the topic of her speech: “Changing our Church Communities.” The event is the annual Gay Christian Network Conference: which includes a wide variety of workshops that explore the LGBT and Christian landscapes especially geared for those who struggle to reconcile their Christian faith with their sexual orientation. The stated mission of the Gay Christian Network (GCN) “…is transforming attitudes toward LGBT people across denominations and cultures.” Part of their “Statement of Faith” proclaims that: “We believe that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians are full participants in God’s kingdom…” This decidedly includes those who are also sexually active. In fact, membership in the GCN is split into two factions: Side A (supporting same-sex marriage and relationships) and Side B (promoting celibacy for Christians with same-sex attractions). Although this is a crucial difference, the GCN decided collectively not to dispute the issue as it remains a point of “personal conviction;” the idea of “personal conviction” is an endlessly repeated term used throughout GCN literature and within the writings and correspondences of its various members; it’s a sort of extreme form of personal-relativism. The remarkable American philosopher and Catholic convert Francis J. Beckwith wrote this about the concept:
“Relativism does not require a particular behavior for everyone in similar moral situations. When faced with exactly the same ethical situation, I might choose one thing, but you may choose the opposite. No universal rules apply to everyone.
Moral relativism is contrasted with moral absolutism, which can mean different things. Minimally, moral absolutism holds that a moral rule is true regardless of whether anyone believes it. It can't be created by personal conviction; nor does it disappear when an individual or culture rejects it.”
The only time the GCN crowd publicly deliberates the morality of “gay” sex is during a bizarre ritual which they call “The Debate:” a forum between one Side A and one Side B representative, each arguing their points for and against homo-genital activity; it’s all very civil and non-judgmental; reminds me of a weird “gay” version of “The Hunger Games,” a sport seemingly without risk to the masses of onlookers who keep clean and distant, that becomes a theatrical exercise in academic discourse and “dialogue.” Sadly, this obsession with discussion has infected some sectors of Catholicism; at a recent conference, co-sponsored by Courage, the lay organizer of the event admitted that some of the speakers held views that were “different and even contradictory.” The presenters at the conference each contributed essays into a single volume entitled “Living the Truth in Love.” In the preface, the organizer stated: “We believe that some of the differences are matters of prudence, and others perhaps are more serious. We include different positions because we believe it is important that we remain in dialogue…” Sounds a little like what goes on with the GCN: talking for the sake of talking; throwing out the various theories, and, resolving nothing. Only, these words do not dissipate into thin air, nor are these so-called “dialogues” merely cerebral expositions that merely affect those within earshot. In 1988, I met a “gay” man twice my age, he was my friend’s lover, but we had a similar background and we too became friends. Like me, he was raised Catholic, but back in the 1970s, he read Fr. John McNeill’s landmark work “The Church and the Homosexual;” back then, McNeill was a great proponent of “dialogue.” As I learned, the book had a huge impact on a number of men, including my new friend. He told me, that, in a way, it was instrumental in his decision to live as a “gay” man. Rather quickly though, my friend broke up with him, and we lost touch; sadly, although I didn’t know it at the time, he later became HIV positive; in a few years he would be dead. These intellectual dialogues last only a few hours, or less, but – dead is forever.
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One of the “workshops” from the same GCN conference: they want to keep us “gay.” |