[Faith-talk] Blind Catholics

[T. Joseph Carter]

Beth,

I don't have much to add except to say that those who self-identify as
"Catholic" are far from united on most any front, including abortion, gay
marriage, infant baptism, or even on the authority of the pope!  Granted,
Catholic teaching has a stand on all of these things (or it's supposed to
anyway), but the disparity observed makes it sometimes really hard to
judge.  It's also worth noting that not everything that comes from someone
in the Vatican is necessarily from the pope, either.

It is for that reason I believe it is important to keep religion out of
civil matters and civil matters out of religion.  If a civil matter comes
up for debate or election, we are each called upon to vote our conscience,
informed of the facts, and based on our beliefs.

As human beings, we're bound to get it wrong at some point.  With the aid
of secular society hostile to both Christians and their morality, we're
sure to.  Even when we're trying to do what we believe is right, it can
sometimes go very wrong.  If you--and I'm not saying you do or do not--are
of the opinion that same-sex attraction is somehow wrong, regardless of
where it comes from, you may ask yourself what to do about it.

Society is going to give you two extreme answers, and probably a whole
bunch in between, and probably none of them good.  The first extreme
answer society will offer is that the problem is you for actually
believing that sex is something men and women do--although I'm pretty sure
by sixth grade science textbook suggests a flaw in that.  The other
extreme answer is to persecute these people who are trying to corrupt our
good, clean society (which ain't exactly either one) with their unnatural
behavior..

You see what I mean?  Neither of those are good answers.  When faced with
something like that, the best we can do is try not to interfere with their
right to do what we know is wrong, without cooperating in it, and without
resorting to sin ourselves to combat sin.  Sometimes balancing all of that
at the same time can be really, really hard.  The same problem exists any
time we disagree with society about what is wrong.

Joseph


On Tue, Feb 05, 2008 at 09:19:20AM -0500, Beth wrote:
> Thanks, Vincent.  First of all, have you ever been to a Catholic
> school or do your kids go to Catholic school?  What are the attitudes
> that the teachers have towards the fact that you are blind?  What do
> you tell the teachers?  How do the kids get to school?  As for my
> beliefs and the fact that I'm liberal, first off, though I'm pro life,
> I do not believe in infant Baptisms because the baby is a baby and
> can't speak for itself.  That's just unfair for the baby because first
> of all, it's like forcing a child into a belief system that the child
> doesn't want or doesn't feel she or he can tolerate.  Not that this is
> bad on all sides, but I just don't like the idea.  I was infant
> Baptized so I don't think Baptizing in a Baptist church would be along
> the lines of my family's faith.  Second, I believe in the idea of gay
> marriage.  Okay, I might have gone too far, but Catholics I think are
> just ... well, I won't say.  But like all Christians, Catholics go
> along with the Conservative belief that gays shouldn't marry because
> it's sodomy, but there's a complete definition that I have of sodomy.
> Then, there's more to it than that.  I don't want to make this too
> controversial.  Thanks for putting up with me for a few minutes.
> Beth
> 
> On 2/5/08, Jacob Struiksma <lawnmower84 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I am  catholic and live in the greater Seattle Washington state area
> > from
> > Jacob Struiksma
> > jacobstruiksma at gmail.com
> > lawnmower84 at hotmail.com
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "T. Joseph Carter" <tjosephcarter at gmail.com>
> > To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion"
> > <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
> > Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 10:36 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] Blind Catholics
> >
> >
> > Vincent,
> >
> > There are a few of us hiding around here somewhere.
> >
> > Joseph
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 01, 2008 at 08:01:50PM -0500, Vincent Fugate wrote:
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > My name is Vincent Fugate, and I'm in Ohio.  I was just wondering if
> > > there were any other Catholics still on the list besides myself.  If so,
> > > could you email me at vincent2872 at sbcglobal.net, or just respond to me on
> > > the list.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
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