FROM FOXNEWS.COM
BOSTON — The Rev. Walter Waldron's homily usually earns a smattering of amens, but his latest talk from the pulpit at St. Patrick Church got him a round of applause. Waldron rallied support Sunday for a petition that calls for banning gay marriage in Massachusetts.
At the end of Mass, he held up a copy of the petition and urged parishioners to sign it in a room at the rear of the church.
Waldron said he isn't worried that his outspoken support for the petition would offend some members of his church.
"We're not crossing the line between church and state," he said. "This is not only a societal issue. It's a moral issue."
To this I say AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! However how is THIS a societal and moral issue and abortion is simply societal? - I applaud Boston Catholic Archbishop Sean O'Malley who has urged parishioners to sign the petition. I personally have been waiting for churches mainly the Catholic Church to do just this same thing for many years. IT is time that we stop cowering in the sanctuary and hope that politicians change their ways in regards to societal, moral and even ethical issues!. We must encourage, nea demand that people vote their faith. This is however a start!
Gays have for years had the ability to be civilly joined in many states. Frankly, if a person wants to express his or her love for say.... garbage trucks ... I could care less but calling it MARRIAGE is unjust and legally, societally, and morally wrong.
See the full foxnews article at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,171088,00.html
Oct 4, 2005
Mass. Churches(All Churches) Should Use Example for Other Topics
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Sooner or later someone is going to call me a pulpit-pounder, because this issues goes far beyond just being "legally, societally and morally wrong," because it is also spiritualy wrong, and you can try and avoid that point all you want, but there's no getting around it. Scripture calls homosexuality an abomination, pure and simple. This is not hate speech it is just cold hard reality. The institution of marriage/family is one of the three major components of our culture that are ordained by God. Civil Government and the Church are the other two, and if you undermine one then you undermine ALL. It is time for Christians to get out of their comfort zones and take a firm stand on this issue.
I don't make the teachings in Scripture, I merely make folks aware of what the Word of God says about behavior that He has declared as being SIN. This is not intolerance or hate, and I can't help that some pastors choose to remain silent about this controversial issue. I have heard many comforting messages in my Church as well, but I have also heard that God is a God of judgment, and that He will judge SIN. I'm sorry if this not what you want to hear, but I'm just the messenger!
Squirrel, you interpret your priest, pastor, rabbi or shamen's comments about everything you disagree with to be HATE?
Religious freedom is one of the foundations of our country. We are free to believe and say what we believe to be truths. Christian Churches are entitled and demanded that they guide their flocks against the evils of society. What's wrong is wrong. Just because the majority believes it to be right doesn't make it right.
You know suirrel, there is one thing that has always struck me as being rather curious, and that is that Christians are expected to be tolerant and accepting of differing views, but the door does not swing both ways. Why is that? Most folks take our unacceptance of sinful behavior as meaning we "hate" the person who is trapped in this type of behavior and nothing is further from the truth. Scripture also teaches us to LOVE THE SINNER BUT HATE THE SIN! What could be more clear.
Squirrel, Jesus also said.. "Lead not the children astray, better you never have been born than to corrupt the little ones"
By teaching that homosexuality is ok or somehow "normal" we are doing just that.
Squirrel--Just to keep the record clear, NO pastor I know would ever advocate any form of discrimination. You are right when you say that "this is not an issue of childish behavior"--IT IS AN ISSUE OF SINFUL AND UNGODLY BEHAVIOR. And just to be even more clear, it IS our job to call SIN just what it is. One of the major problems in our so-called civilized society is how we have sanitized sinful behavior, and have made right and wrong subjective judgments.
I am sure that you are familiar with the Biblical account of the woman at the well? Had there been an ACLU in Jesus' time He would have immediately been branded as the most intolerant person ever to have lived, because when He told the woman to go and call her husband, and the woman replied that she had no husband, Jesus answered "That is right, and the man you are living with now is not your husband." He exposed her lifestyle but he did not judge the woman. Scripture clearly tells us that we are to judge immoral behavior-See 1 Cor. 5:5. See also 1 Cor 6:9 where it is declared that the unrighetous shall NOT inheret the Kingdom of God.
You are right when you say it is fair to expect that Christians respect others, and we do, however there are forms of behavior which are purely unacceptable and we will not compromise on what God has called sinful and homosexuality is SINFUL, whether you accept it or not.
Good grief, now we have reduced this debate to juvenile hair-splitting. How can you even equate working on the Sabbath to the unacceptable not to mention dangerous lifestyle of homosexuality, and just for the record, your sarcastic jab about a Constitutional Amendment banning work on Sunday is an insult to my intelligence. Enough said about that.
I had high expectations for this debate, but I obviously gave you more credit than you deserved. Enough Said-PERIOD!
OK, I know I declared Enough said, however I have re-read the comments on this posting and there is a critical point that needs to be made here. You suggested that Christians should "worry about sinful behavior that actually affects society." Now I must ask how you conclude that homosexuality does not affect society?
I call your attention to a research article written by Dr. John R. Diggs, Jr. for the Corporate Resource Council entitled "The Health Risks of Gay Sex." This article discusses 5 separate areas that would have a devastating effect on our society. Furthermore the study explains that men involved in the "gay" lifestyle can expect to lose up to 20 years of life expectancy. Is this enough of a societal effect for you?
OK folks this is absolutely my final word on this subject since it is clear to me that you are not really interested in a good debate on this subject. BTW Anon 2 you are right our Government isn't a theocracy, and it may suprise you that not even I would support such a thing. From where I sit this is just another non-issue being employed to confuse the overall discussion.
So-the health risks of homosexuality are beside the point--do tell? Do gays and lesbians only associate with themselves and have no contact with other people? The reduction in life expectancy is just one of numerous risks that homosexuals face, not to mention a variety of STD's which pose an extreme health risk to the community overall.
And I'm not even going to address this ludicrous Sunday work thing-suffice it to say that we totally disagree on this subject and leave it at that!
All of God's declarations are to be followed, but you are comparing apples and oranges with this lame argument of working on Sunday to the health risks presented by the homosexual lifestyle. I have no agenda, I'm merely expressing my opinion on a given issue, which is my right to do. You are directing all this hostility toward me because I am obviously telling you something you either can't or don't want to deal with.
OK squirrel, you think the public health argument is weak--read the account for yourself, then tell me it weak. From where I sit this is a reasonably compelling indictment of the homosexual lifestyle. But judge for yourself.
http://www.corporateresourcecouncil.org/white_papers/Health_Risks.pdf
This debate has gotten totally out of hand, so it ends here. First I never called you curious, so let's be careful of the words you use. Second YES I have met several gay people, in fact I worked with a few and got along with them quite well--so there go your observation that I hate gay people! But anyway, this discussion is over. I'd thank you for a "good" debate such as it was, but we both know that would be pointless!
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