Naturgesetz: Catholic and Homosexual/Asexual: Freedom Of Religion

First Things First

I think Pope Francis gives us an excellent example of the importance of pastoral accompaniment as primary. In my opinion when the Catholic Church speaks to someone with a homosexual orientation, the first thing we should say is, "God loves you unconditionally. There is nothing you can do or have done that can ever make him stop loving you." Secondly, we should say, "Try to learn what God wants you to do, and try to do it." Third, and only third, we should say, "Here is how we believe God, in his love for you, wants you to live; and here is why we believe it. (For example, www.usccb.org/dpp/Ministry.pdf ) We invite you to consider it with an open mind, as the authentic teaching of the Church, and ask God to guide your mind and heart with his grace." Too often, in discussion about the third part, both we and the other person lose sight of the first two as part of our message.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Freedom Of Religion — "Freedom from;" "Freedom for"

An interesting article from another site I follow. It gives a pretty good take on the idea that the First Amendment religion clauses give us freedom from state interference in our religious lives, but believers need to use that important freedom by living the way they should.