Christianity suffered another setback two weeks ago when the Catholic Church declared that gay marriage was sinful and should not receive the blessing of the church.
Here is what the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which is responsible for defending Catholic doctrine said:
– Same-sex marriages are not part of God’s plan for families and raising children.
– Whatever positive elements there may be in a gay union cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing.
– Bestowing a blessing on a same-sex couple’s relationship would also be an “imitation” of the nuptial blessing on a relationship that involves “sexual activity outside of marriage,” thus, “God does not and cannot bless sin.”
Score another one for moral blindness and ecclesial judgmentalism.
Not that the Catholic hierarchy doesn’t have the authority to make such judgments. That hierarchy can and does define what it means to be Catholic (which is why I will never be one, I might add).
In this instance, though, members of the Congregation showed just how “old” their worldview is, presuming as they did that sexual orientation is a choice people make rather than a disposition genetic research has shown is actually the case.
But that is not even their most egregious error. Beyond presenting the church as unloving and judgmental, they crossed the line into an appalling self-righteousness when they assumed they were speaking for God.
This is why they not only damaged the credibility of the Catholic Church, they further eroded the trustworthiness of Christianity itself.
The presumption by the Vatican that it has the authority or right to speak for God is unfortunately indicative of an overreach common to Christians of all stripes.
The usual justification we hear from people who dare to speak for God is that they are saying what the Bible says.
In Unbinding Christianity (Unbinding+Chrisitia%2Caps%2C210&sr=8-1), I provide an extended explanation of why such a claim is the equivalent of playing God.
What anyone and everyone says about the Bible is an interpretation, thus, any belief based on an interpretation is by nature subject to being wrong.
No belief we hold as human beings escapes the fallibilities that are endemic to our nature. This is why the claim of biblical infallibility is itself an absurd claim that ignores the fact that we are not God.
Even if the Bible were infallible, which it is not, how would we who are fallible know that is the case? You see the problem people who want to speak for God run into right out of the gate.
The most and the best of which anyone of faith can speak has to do with what he or she believes. To be sure, some beliefs have more credibility and make more sense than others, but none is infallible.
Whether or not God considers homosexuality sinful and gay marriage unworthy of divine blessing is known only to God. Whatever we humans say about it is rooted in what kind of God we believe in.
My conviction that gay marriage is equal in the eyes of God to straight marriage stems from my belief that God embraces rather than judges, that God blesses rather than curses, that God loves and never hates and never condemns.
In short, what I believe about God leads me to believe love in a marriage matters more than the sexual orientation with which one is born.
I would not presume to say that what I believe about God is who God is, only that this is who I believe God is. That is as far as any of us can or should go.
The Catholic Church – and many Protestant Christians –obviously think diferently. What they believe about God is different from what I believe and that is their right. What is not their right is to insist God is who they say God is and acts as they say God acts.
So my question to all Christians – Catholic and Protestant – who insist gay marriage is a sin in the eyes of God is this: “Which is the real sin? Same-sex marriage or playing God?”
Throughout its history the Catholic Church has been forced to admit in later generations that it was wrong about what it was once sure of and taught its members to believe.
I believe it will again in regard to same-sex marriage, but when that day comes it will in no way make up for the pain and suffering its current claims about God and marriage are causing gays and lesbian Catholics and those of us who believe the heart of God is bigger than the church’s.
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