Wednesday, October 05, 2005

The Catholic Church and homosexuality

As you have probably heard, according to a Vatican official, the Catholic Church will soon reaffirm its position that homosexuals shouldn't be ordained as priests.

What strikes me as most interesting about this is the implication in this position that homosexuality is part of the essential nature of a person rather than a choice. The Catholic Church bans women from the priesthood, not because of any choice the woman has made but because she is a woman. This doctrine seems to put gays into a similar category with respect to having a condition that they can do nothing about. It certainly doesn't suggest that homosexuality is a "lifestyle choice" as some anti-gay factions suggest.

In some ways, then, this decision by the Catholic Church is good news for gays. It puts the gay community and the Catholic Church on the same side with respect to whether or not homosexuality is a choice.

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