"It may come as a surprise to many that rank and file Catholics are more supportive of rights for gays and lesbians than other Christians and the public," said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute. "But the best data available paints this consistent portrait across a range of issues, including same-sex marriage, workplace non-discrimination, open military service, and adoption rights for gay and lesbian couples."
[For the full article, see here.]
In a top-down organization such as the Roman Catholic Church it is easy to think that most followers adhere to the doctrines and dogmas of its leaders. However, as we see in the above cited article, this belief is not validated when it comes to Gay people, same-sex love and activities.
One of the findings is that A majority of Catholics (56%) believe that sexual relations between two adults of the same gender is not a sin. This is a remarkable disagreement with the Roman Catholic Church's hierarchy.
A study done many years ago found that most Roman Catholics attended church because of its sacramental emphasis. Adhering to Vatican directives, be it birth control or Gay rights, is not part of the belief system of most Roman Catholics.
I'm both heartened and bothered by this finding! On the one hand, I'm glad to see grace and love, for the most part, trumping papal directives regarding Gay people.
On the other hand, I fail to see why preferring sacramental theology is sufficient reason to keep decent people attending such a homophobic Church, lending their monies and presence to that Church, and thereby giving credibility to that institution.
I have urged decent people to flee toxic denominations and churches that have the temerity to add anything else to the Gospel of grace, and I continue to do so, despite the fact that most Roman Catholics, according to the above cited study dealing with attitudes toward Gay people, are not blinded by the ignorant and/or hateful homophobic utterances emanating from the Vatican.
4 comments:
As I wrote in my CTGM essay titled "Their Worm Never Dies", Jerry, it seems to me that when it comes to allegiance to the Pope, some Catholics are better trained than Dog Whisperer dogs! They don't personally agree with all his pronouncements, but God forbid they should criticize him or distance themselves from his church.
Jerry, you make a valid point in regard to people staying in a homophobic church. The sacraments can be found somewhere else but a an institution that discriminates against LGBT people is not worth giving money to. It justs strengthened their position.
A great analogy, Don Charles! Thanks, Jerry.
Thanks genevieve! There are some Episcopal churches, for example, that are sacramentally oriented, and some of them are not homophobic. Best wishes, Jerry.
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