Breaking News: Catholics Shouldn’t Hate Gays

I typically shy away from critiquing pieces written in college newspapers mainly because when I look back at the things I wrote in college I shudder at my own shallowness and pretension.

But this completely absurd piece which came from Saint John’s University newspaper The Record is, I think, indicative of a larger problem of the university. This writer picks up the Catholic Catechism and shockingly learns that we’re not supposed to hate gay people. Firstly, kudos to the theology staff there at SJU for really educating these children to what the church teaches. This kid “discovered” this nugget of info on his own.

Respect the Catechism, Respect homosexuals
By Cameron Schneider

At first I couldn’t believe it. It just didn’t make sense! How could so many people be wrong?
Maybe a little background would help. A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing through my personal copy of The Catechism of the Catholic Church when I came across the section that deals with homosexuality.

I almost didn’t read it, because I was positive that it was going to speak as unkindly about homosexuals as many Christians do. On a whim I read it anyway, and I was shocked. The Catechism, the holy guidebook to all that is Catholic, actually says that Catholics should treat homosexuals with kindness and respect.

I’ll save you the trouble of reading it yourself with a direct quote from the book: “[Homosexuals] must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”

From what I’ve seen, both on these campuses and across the nation, it would seem that many Catholics are not aware of this particular section of the Catechism.

I actually think it was just you who wasn’t aware of this. But thanks for saving us the “trouble” of reading the Catechism for ourselves. That book is really big and like there’s hardly any pictures.

The writer continues that Catholics shouldn’t hate homosexuals because the KKK doesn’t like Catholics or homosexuals. The logic of it all!

In fact, Catholics, more than any other denomination, should be especially compassionate to homosexuals. You may not know this little tidbit, but in early American history, Catholics were despised and discriminated against as well. (Proof of that little tidbit is available in the Bible which is even bigger than the Catechism so don’t read that either)

In fact, the only group that treated Catholics and homosexuals “equally” was the Ku Klux Klan – they hated Catholics and homosexuals with equal passion.

I’m not saying Catholics across the world should encourage homosexuality, but you don’t have to hate homosexuals. They deserve better than that, and if you are Catholic, just remember that your great-grandparents faced the same discrimination in America that homosexuals are now facing today.

Firstly, I would point out that Catholic discrimination is not a thing of the past. Every year thousands of people are killed, tortured, and starved because of their faith in Jesus Christ. (Kudos once again the SJU for broadening their student’s perspective)

How is this young man going through Catholic school without realizing that we’re not supposed to hate anyone. Is is because his professors are all posing as “liberators” of the Church and are only able to defeat straw men? So they teach students that the church hates women, homosexuals and communists and then establish themselves as the true conscience of a progressive and inevitable Church?