For Catholics, Open Attitudes on Gay Issues

This explains why my parents, who are Catholic, accepted me with little effort when I came out.

 

Love my Gaga

 

As do I.

 

I have encountered this too. Catholics are often given a bad rap, but in the end Catholics seem to be quite accepting people and do more than their share of charitable work.

 

The Catholic Church, at least the European and North American branches, has an odd disconnect between the upper echelons of the hierarchy and the laity. Lay Catholics (i.e. non-priests) use birth control, get abortions, support gay rights, etc. pretty consistently.

 

The Catholic Church, primitive as some of its morality may be, actually has great minds within it. Always has; read St. Augustine's Confessions if you're not inclined to agree. There's always been a consistent questioning of what is true within the religion, and ultimately, this questioning strengthens their faith rather than weakens it.

Compare the wholly un-academic attitude of some US evangelical groups, who pretty much snuff you out if you start to ask tough questions.

 

That's why I am proud of being a Catholic and a Gay

 

Well, I was born into Catholicism, but I never really was a Catholic. I didn't even want to be confirmed, but I was forced into it. I told my priest, teacher, and parents that I thought it was dishonest for me to be confirmed, but they didn't listen. I really don't believe in God or any mythology.

I don't care if other people do. I think people have the right to believe whatever they want. I just expect that others will return the favor. Catholics can still be pushy about their beliefs.

 

I'm a catholic...

 

I went to a Catholic university for a while and I was always impressed by the freedom we had to talk about things. It was about strengthening their faith through questioning it. Trial by fire, or whatever. That's something I can respect. When you think about issues and all their sides and implications before making a decision on the issue and your faith and thus strengthening your convictions. It's really awesome to see.

 

I like this thread so far What I've been saying for years, having grown up Catholic and gone to a Catholic High School.

 

This is really great news. I was raised Southern Baptist and they are the opposite of this in terms of acceptance.

 

I'd like to concur. I'm Catholic and I've had nothing but total acceptance from others, many of whom are also practicing Catholics (including close family). I think, in general, Catholics (and by that I too mean lay Catholics) are very open minded, and disagree quite a lot with what the Church thinks. For example, I wonder how many Catholics actually agree with their position on contraception, or pre-marital sex. I doubt many do. In fact I know many who don't. Certainly the younger generation who still feel drawn to aspects of the faith, don't really believe in these positions in my experience. Sometimes I feel angry at the Church, I don't particularly like it (and not just because of its views on homosexuality). But people should separate the Catholic Church from actual Catholics, because I think, particularly on issues relating to "sexual morality", they very often don't agree. I've noticed in churches the issue of homosexuality (and contraception) never gets raised anymore. Possibly because priests know that the majority of people no longer agree with them!