Poper Scooper

I was reading a HuffPost article noting that the Onion, the satirical journal, scooped the AP by three months.

The Onion from July...

..and the AP from today:

All laughter aside, poor Pope Francis is beset by those who wish that he would just shut up and read from the catechism--in Latin, preferably. If I were him, frankly, I would tire of these busybodies and fire a couple to bring the rest into line.

Anyway.

All this got me thinking about gays, their detractors and church law. Church Law states pretty clearly that:

"tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. CCC 2357 

Ouch.

But I wondered tonight about those who are quick to adopt this teaching of the Church. Did the teaching come first, and then they ordered their opinions to fit it? Or did their opinions come first, and they use the teaching as cover?

Imagine I was a human being who loved gays but desired to obey all Church teaching. A transcript of my brain's subspace chatter might read like this: "Wow! Gays are great! And they say that gay sex is awesome! I have attended so many gay weddings and had a great time with all my gay friends. And they are such wonderful parents. Also, gays have made so many important contributions to culture. They make everything awesome! But, what's this? Church calls homosexuality "disordered"? Oh well. I guess I'll have to change everything I believe about gays. From now on, I will disapprove of their lifestyle and behavior."

Or, is this more like it? "Gays are sick sodomites and gay sex is disgusting! They have no business getting married -- or worse, raising kids! They're perverts and are hell bound! What's this? The Church says I'm right! They are "intrinsically disordered." Thank goodness! I'm going off to Church right now to thank God for making me right. And straight!"

I don't know ANY Catholic or Christian of any kind who was positively inclined toward gays and who changed his or her mind because the Church said so. Folks like these either stay in the Church and fight, or leave the Church entirely. But I know more than my share of Catholics who are relieved that the Church can be a cover for their gay-hatred.

Pope Francis's tolerance toward all "sinners" (which to me does not automatically include gays) is a welcome first step of many that are needed to bring the Church into line with the modern world and with Christ's gospel of love and forgiveness. It's no surprise that some in the Vatican want to pull him in a more comfortable direction. I can only pray that his way of love prevails and that the Church finally has a grown-up conversation about gay love, natural law and the good news of the gospel. Church law should never be a cover for hatred and intolerance, an excuse for people to avoid dealing with their own evil.