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"Jesus said Nothing about Homosexuality" (REBUTTED)
I sometimes reference my Catholicism in posts and tweets; this is not a religious blog but there are points of intersection. Pope Francis has taken a number of secular stands I've disagreed with his anti-market Statist views; more recently, he has spoken out on behalf of immigrants, which I support. Let me point out on the topic of homosexuality, I've always been live and let live, despite being a straight conservative Catholic; I knew where the gay neighborhood was when I lived in Houston (but never went there) and I heard about a couple of Navy lesbians when I served in Orlando, one a fellow math instructor, a Disney World enthusiast who escorted me on my one and only visit there. Nobody ever acted on these rumors, even though the military was intolerant of gays among personnel. later, when I was in the process of leaving the Navy I was going through Officer of the Day training, and i remember this one barracks I had to visit and almost blacked out on entering with a strong stench of vomit. I was told that is where gay sailors stayed on the way out of service. At the time, the Navy put a big incentive of recruiting enlisted agreeing to serve on nuclear subs, joining as E-4's. It's a hard life, serving months at a time underwater. Some sailors grew to hate the life and were doing whatever it took to get out of their multi-year commitment. And the prohibition against homosexuality was exploited, as straight men intentionally got caught giving each other blow jobs.
In fact, I have a gay nephew who has invited me to his commitment event with his partner this summer. I want all my family to find love and happiness in their lives. I think my live and let live attitude really had its base from taking a psychology course at OLL and encountering the fact that homosexual behavior occurred naturally among other animal species. it wasn't clear to me what the functional purpose was for sexuality beyond procreation but it's clear some of it may be a natural inclination.
My political position on marriage is more nuanced. I've always opposed government micromanaging relationships. I've always supported voluntary contractual commitments between adults, including gay people; at the sane time, I do think the foundation of society is heterosexual marriage and its basis for family through procreation. I have a conservative bias against social experimentation with this foundational construct. So i was supportive of state law rooted in traditional marriage, so long as they didn't attempt to ban other types of relationships.
Why this video? On Twitter/X, there are constantly tweets of the sort of the kind Jesus was a leftist because He taught xxxxxx" or "because Jesus didn't speak out in the gospels [about abortion, gay behavior, etc.] He was for them" [Quite often they'll quote late President Carter on relevant tolerance from the Bible by their alleged omission.] First, I don't think the gospels constitute a comprehensive view of everything He taught over 3 years of ministry. Second, whereas things like abortion and homosexuality were embraced in the Roman Empire, the same wasn't true within Israel itself. as the commentator points out here, just because Jesus isn't quoted about bestiality specifically doesn't mean He condoned sexual perversity. perhaps because it wasn't common in Israel, Jesus wasn't quoted. however, there are relevant passages like Matthew 5:17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." St. Paul makes relevant comments, e.g., Romans 1:26-27 {"In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another".) As the early church expanded outside Israel and encountered them they specifically condemned them, such as the practice of pederasty, the sexual exploitation of boys; "You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit pederasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill one that has been born” (Didache 2:2 [A.D. 70]).
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