| 06/07/08 02:03 PM |
#148
|
|
Elmer Dante
Hello all. I just got round to reading all the posts. Since the last time I checked, the conversations have become more eclectic. However, to quote Martha Stewart, "that's a good thing."
Marianne,
I didn't take your comments as sexist. Every few years I re-read "The Catcher in the Rye" and think that Holden is "everyman" and, indeed, "every male adolescent." I'm not certain how the ladies feel, but there are very few men whose psyches don't resonate with that particular book.
Marianne and Kevin,
One thing that I'd like to point out to everyone is that the Catholicism of our youth was a very sanitized version of the faith and the individuals who taught us, although dedicated, were victims of very simplistic viewpoints and world views.
In the postmodern world in which we now find ourselves, there is no longer a "stable ground." We must take the best of the past and mix it with the best of the present and mix it with what we learn from "the other." For some, that will entail going to the Catholic priest for confession and to the Buddhist monk for advice.
I find the writings of the Jesuit theologian, Jacques Dupuis, who has been censured by the Vatican most provacative. He is a pluralist (believes that all of the Worlds great religions are vehicles of divine grace) who sees the Cosmic Christ in all faiths. His emphasis on the Cosmic Christ is in accord with the great Councils and accepted Creeds of the Church; however, he does not regard the "Jesus event" as the exclusive and/or final revelation of the divine (which is, of course, why his writings have been called into question).
Kevin,
I've had similar discussions with both of my brothers (both of whom are gay). In the past, unfortunately, homosexuality was perceived as a behavior rather than as an identity. Often, when the subject is discussed, peoples' imaginations jump immediately to the bedroom instead of focusing on the fact that we are talking about an intimate relationship between two human beings.
The tragic thing is that the uneducated among the clergy do not make the connection that many young people, because of the guilt they are made to feel (just because of who they are), commit suicide. Additionally, clerical admonitions against homosexuality leads to the very unChristian act of gay bashing.
In reality, we know that homosexuality does not exclude one from sanctity--one need only think of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (the unmercinaries). Indeed, there is some provacative (and controversial) evidence that homosexual and lesbian unions were blessed by the early Church.
I'm certain you've heard all the goings on in my own Church, the Episcopal Church, on this issue. As it stands now, there are many gay and lesbian priests in our Church and most parishioners don't give a damn about whom the priest is sleeping with. In fact, in the Episcopal Church there is some anecdotal evidence that homosexuals tend to be more active in parish life than heterosexuals. At any rate, in another ten years no Episcopalian will give a damn about the sex of another Episcopalian's partner.
I will say that when both my brother's "came out," my family was very supportive. I'm not certain they could have been otherwise, since my mother was my father's fourth wife (Dad was in his mid-sixties when I was born). Every once in a while I find out about a new brother or sister I didn't know existed (my eldest half sister is now 86). I can say that my brothers have both had the same partners for twenty years which has far surpassed what the heterosexuals in the family have been able to manage.
A great professor of mine once said that "the only way to change peoples' thinking is to engage them in conversation." (She bases her teaching style on the work of David Tracey who regards teaching as 'conversation.') I applaud you for raising these issues in your e-mail.
Hope this has become too deep.
My best to eveyone....
|
|
