New Pope Wrote Supportive Letter To Vicious Homophobic Group

[ruggerson]

http://www.americananglican.org/News/News.cfm?ID=789&c=21

Ratzinger wrote to this group of bigots who opposed the ordination of the gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson and told them they had his "heartfelt prayers."

So much for Jesus' message of love and inclusion.

[Bluebear]

1. "The significance of your meeting is sensed far beyond Texas"

=====

I hasten to assure you of my heartfelt prayers for all those taking part in this convocation. The significance of your meeting is sensed far beyond Plano,(Texas) and even in this City from which Saint Augustine of Canterbury was sent to confirm and strengthen the preaching of Christ’s Gospel in England. Nor can I fail to recall that barely 120 years later, Saint Boniface brought that same Christian faith from England to my own forebears in Germany.

The lives of these saints show us how in the Church of Christ there is a unity in truth and a communion of grace which transcend the borders of any nation. With this in mind, I pray in particular that God’s will may be done by all those who seek that unity in the truth, the gift of Christ himself.

With fraternal regards, I remain

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

[BattyDem]

2. The more I learn about this guy ...

the angrier I become! :grr:

I gave up being a Catholic years ago, so normally I wouldn't care who the Pope is or what his beliefs are. However, since the religious fanatics have declared war on secular society, I can't help being a bit frightened that a man like this has so much power. :-(

[Nothing Without Hope]

5. According to the LA Times early this AM, he was the Opus Dei candidate

in addition to being the long-time head of the renamed Inquisition (under an innocuous name now, but yes, THAT inquisition).

A nightmare. But he will have a surprise when he starts his bullying campaigns. It is the moral authority of the church that will suffer in the long term. In the shorter term, he will cause much pain and confusion - which he somehow sees as a good thing, a holy thing that Jesus would approve.

Heart-blind fool.

[FreedomAngel82]

7. These times

are going to be even more hard. *sigh* It's going to be a LONG battle.

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. Love and inclusion are not in this guy's playbook

I mean, forbidding condoms even in African countries where HIV is an epidemic? The men and women get it and die, the children are born with it from infected mothers, and the grandparents are left trying to hold together and the remnants of a family and keep them all sheltered and fed.

But condoms are BAD! They might accidentally prevent a pregnancy while they are saving lives! Can't have that - culture of life, you know.

My chief hope in this dark hour (I used to be a catholic decades ago) is that his hubris, intolerance, and bigoted ultimatums will finally spark in the appalled public as a rebellion a revitalized movement toward inclusion, love and peace.

[mikehiggins]

4. News Flash: many religions oppose homosexuality

For some reason, many religions condemn homosexuality as immoral and sinful. This is an article of faith with them. Ironically, this does not make them "vicious", only sincere in their beliefs.

As a Catholic I understand that my Church does not condemn a person who is a homosexual ALTHOUGH homosexual activities are considered sinful. Premarital sex between heterosexuals is also considered sinful, by the way. In fact, if you are of Irish descent, pretty much any sort of sex you enjoy is sinful, at least according to the old fashioned Irish Catholic teachings.

Doesn't mean I can't befriend, work with and/or politically support the guy down the hall who is gay. I just can't go to bed with him anymore than I can go to bed with the young girl across the street who used to babysit my kids (unless, of course, I divorce my wife and marry the nineteen year old hottie). Its all sin, folks, so you might as well just grin and bear it.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. Sincerity and "viciousness" are in no way incompatible.

Nazis, for instance, were utterly "sincere" in their loathing of Jews.

[dflprincess]

8. When I was kid the nuns made it clear even thinking about sex was a sin

We knew what "impure thoughts" were before we were old enough to have them. The obsession with "sins of the flesh" is really quite twisted.

[FreedomAngel82]

9. But that does not

permit them to tell other religious groups they can go and beat up gay's and deny them civil rights. :mad: What these religious groups are doing is WRONG! I'm Christian and do not like them doing this. This is NOT what Jesus Christ is about! They are invoking His name so they can do their evil deeds and get away with it! :mad:

[ruggerson]

10. Gotta disagree with you

The church supported slavery at one point too. Using the bible as their "article of faith."

That was morally wrong. And this is morally wrong.

It is morally wrong to condemn homosexuality and/or homosexuals just as it is morally wrong to condemn left handed people or people with blue eyes.

I don't buy the "hate the sin, love the sinner" argument. It's twisted, bigoted rhetoric designed to inspire hatred and oppression.

I do NOT accept that I must accede to bigotry because someone else is a "sincere" bigot.

The Catholics sincerely hated the Jews during the Inquisition, based on their biblical belief system. Was that ok, too?

[sandnsea]

11. divorce is a sin

You can't do that either, silly.

[Behind the Aegis]

16. News Flash: ALL religions should stay the hell OUT of politics!

I don't care what any body's articles of faith are, but when they start dictating or influencing laws, then I have an issue. I don't care what you, your religion, or anyone's religion decides are sins. That is between you and your Church. But to deny me and others like me personal rights and civil liberties is just plain WRONG and UNETHICAL!

[6000eliot]

21. Thank You

But I reject your offer of friendship and political support. I would rather not associate with those who think that whom I choose to love is "intrinsically evil."

[w13rd0]

12. I started off...

...disliking this new pope, now I LOATHE him. I hope he serves the shortest papal tenure in the history of the Catholic Church.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

14. I hope he serves the shortest papal tenure in the history of the Catholic

Church

If he does, that means there's only 32 more days to go.

[ruggerson]

13. It gets worse

There's this too:

http://www.washingtonblade.com/blog/index.cfm?start=4/14/05&end=4/21/05#475

[w4rma]

15. And the Nazis issued pink stars for gay folks.

Definitely *still* a Nazi.

[IndianaGreen]

17. Ratzinger said that even gays that are celibate are "intrinsically evil"

Breaking with previous Catholic teaching, Ratzinger said that having the homosexual orientation, even if not acted upon, is both an "objective disorder" and a "moral disorder", which is "contrary to the creative wisdom of God".

Source: http://www.outrage.nabumedia.com/pressrelease.asp?ID=39

I wonder what Pope Ratzinger's final solution is going to be to the gay problem...

[w4rma]

18. I think folks who supported the Holocaust are "intrinsically evil".

I'm not even gay.

[ruggerson]

20. The worst part of this

is the active role the Vatican plays in meddling in our civil laws. They actually throw millions of dollars into opposing gay rights bills and civil union bills. This elevation of Ratzinger will just ratchet up the war.

[IndianaGreen]

19. Ratzinger also wrote that gays were not entitled to human rights

The German Catholic Church condoned the Nazis's violence against Jews and gays. Here we see Ratzinger advocating the same sort of thing:

This document was designed to mobilise Catholic opinion against equal rights legislation for lesbians and gay men. It describes homosexuality as an "objective disorder" and a "tendency ordered towards an intrinsic moral evil". Rejecting the concept of homosexual "human rights", it asserts there is "no right" to homosexuality; adding that the civil liberties of lesbians and gay men can be "legitimately limited for objectively disordered external conduct".

While condemning "unjust" discrimination, the Vatican document says that some forms of antigay discrimination are "not unjust" and may even be "obligatory": especially with regard to "the consignment of children to adoption or foster care, in employment of teachers or coaches, and in military recruitment".

Most shocking of all, the 1992 document suggests that when lesbians and gay men demand civil rights, "neither the Church nor society should be surprised when ... irrational and violent reactions increase".

This implies that by asking for human rights, lesbians and gay men encourage homophobic prejudice and violence: we bring hatred upon ourselves, and are responsible for our own suffering. The Catholic Church, it seems, blames the victims of homophobia, not the perpetrators.

http://www.outrage.nabumedia.com/pressrelease.asp?ID=39