Recently, Ken Howell, an instructor at the U of Illinois at Champagne was fired from his teaching position. Ok, it happens from time to time. But, in this case, Mr. Howell was fired for presenting the Catholic teaching on Homosexuality, and doing so very accurately, in a course that is called Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought.
He stated carefully that homosexual sex acts are by their nature wrong, because they are contrary to the complementarity of the natural law of human sexual interaction. At no time did he criticise any particular individuals for their belief, merely stated the Catholic Church position.
Some student took offence, but rather than complain personally had another homosexual friend write a letter of complaint, which called this teaching "hate speech".
Make no mistake, gentle reader, Ken Howell is being persecuted on behalf of the Catholic Church for making people uncomfortable with their own beliefs. He has 2,000 years of scripture and tradition backing him up, with teachings that have not changed over that time, except to have the current contextual situations of each time and space melded into them for current situational accuracy. The teachings have remained intact.
In the Catholic Church, sex outside of the marriage of one man and one woman is no less acceptable whether it is between two homosexuals, or two heterosexuals, who are not married to each other validly. I have struggled with this teaching in my life, and from my own growth in faith, and from seeing the pain that not following that teaching has caused me and those I love, I for one, believe it to be the truth, unvarnished as it might be, and as difficult to take in and follow as it is.
The Catholic Church is not going to make this teaching more palatable for the masses. It will never be pablum. It will remain meat.
Additionally, I have personally engaged in largely fruitless dialogue with a former Catholic, who having found his faith in one of the 30,000 Protestant Christian denominations is bent on saving Catholics from the Whore of Babylon, the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
Of great contention for those who would criticize the Catholic Church is the teaching on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Of course, it makes no sense to our physical bodies. Isn't it a belief in cannibalism? A poor man's version of sex outside of marriage. If it feels right (really if it feels good), then do it. It does not "feel" right to eat one of Jesus . . . what? fingers during Communion.
You know, to my flesh, it "feels" right to have sexual relations with any person or thing I want to. So there! And eating Jesus body does not "feel" right.
But, the Catholic Church has always hurt people's feelings, not because it is mean spirited, but because the truth challenges our feelings, and seeks to get below the feelings of our rebellious body to our heart, where God wants to take up residence in his created ones, you and me.
The Catholic Church will never waver from the truth, delivered in love to all who will listen, and we are commanded to do likewise. Love is the operative word here; compassion, joining us with Christ's Passion and death on the cross, suffering injustice for the sake of love, and loving even when it hurts.
And, if our actions do not back up our words, who will listen? Nobody.
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