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Response
I have been a long time reader. I never post but I feel as though I've got to give my 2 cents on this subject.
lifesaver: Are you even Catholic? You keep stating that the church is losing many members in the US because of the church's inability to adapt. Do you even have evidence to back this up? Membership in the Catholic church in the US has actually risen in the past 10 years. (Yes I actually do have the numbers on that). Besides only 20% of the US population are actually Catholic so I have a hard time understanding why non Catholics even care about the well being of the church.
I'm responding, because reading from the threads I feel as though there's animosity towards the Pope and church. I take particular offense to what some of you are saying. The church is not perfect and I have yet to actually meet any Catholic who actually agrees with everything the church teaches. There is no such thing as a "Perfect Catholic". For example, even before the priest molestation scandal broke out, I never agreed with the notion that priests should be single and celibate. Also there's no denying the fact that the church definetly needs to clean up its act.
As for the stance on gay marriage. I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic schools all my life. I don't believe in gay marriage but does that make me homophobic? Am I a bigot? No. I have a good friend who is a lesbian and is like a sister to me. She knows my views. She doesn't agree but she respects it and vice versa. You've got to understand that people will not always agree with you.
As for my personal view, I believe that gays should not be discriminated against. They should have many rights but the one thing I don't agree on is marriage. Why? Marriage has always been a moral as well as legal issue. For thousands of years it's always been man and woman. Then all of a sudden, society has become so liberal within the past 30-40 years that people who don't accept certain beliefs like gay marriage such as myself are close-minded? and that we're not "with the times"? I know that homosexuality has been around since the beginning of time but those are my personal beliefs and they are not necessarily influenced by my faith.
Keep in mind however, that the Catholic church is not the only christian church to oppose gay marriage. Baptists are just as vocal against gay marriage and I know that this has become a very hot button issue in the Jewish community as well.
Polls show that Americans are pretty much split on the gay marriage issue. The reasons for disliking gay marriage is just as numerous as those supporting it.
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