Father James Martin Speaks Out Against Catholics Who Hate Gays

[Fish and Bread]

Here is a transcript of Father James' remarks, in case the server hosting the image of his Facebook post goes down:

No issue brings out so much hatred from so many Catholics as homosexuality. Even after over 25 years as a Jesuit, the level of hatred around homosexuality is nearly unbelievable to me, especially when I think of all of the wonderful LGBT friends I have.

The Catholic church must do a much better job of teaching what the Catechism says: that we should treat our LGBT brothers and sisters with "respect, sensitivity and compassion."

But God wants more. God wants us to love. And not a twisted, crabbed, narrow tolerance, which often comes in the guise of condemnations, instructions and admonitions that try to masquerade as love, but actual love.

Love means: getting to know LGBT men and women, spending time with them, listening to them, being challenged by them, hoping the best for them, and wanting them to be a part of your lives, every bit as much as straight friends are part of your lives.

Love first. Everything else later. In fact, everything else is meaningless without love.

 

[ebia]

He always seems to speak a lot of Jesuit sense. His book Jesuit Guide to nearly everything is excellent.

 

[Rhamiel]

there is a lot of truth in what he has to say

 

[brewmama]

there is a lot of truth in what he has to say

Maybe. But most of the hate I see is from the gays, not at the gays. To say otherwise is disingenuous at the very least. How about calling for love from the gays?

 

[ebia]

Maybe. But most of the hate I see is from the gays, not at the gays. To say otherwise is disingenuous at the very least.

I can't say I've seen much from gays.
Given whats been done to gays in the past, I'm surprised its not more.

And if Christianity/Catholicism is what it claims to be, then Christians should be aiming rather higher than "not quite as bad as the other guy".

 

[Rhamiel]

I find it kind of interesting that he uses the word "admonitions"
because admonishing the sinner is seen as one of the basic spiritual works of mercy

but he is correct, everything has to be based in love
everything has to come from love, this is primary
and when we get our own egos wrapped up in this, we loose

 

[bill5]

I love how he presumes to speak for "so many Catholics." Oh brother. Seems to me the good Father is just scratching a "pay attention to me!" itch.

I also believe there's far more hatred and lack of "tolerance" coming from so-called oppressed groups than those they point a finger to as their oppressors, often via unfounded stereotypes of Catholics/Christians/whoevers being these evil nasty bigots, which is typically either "proven" by cherry-picking isolated examples or just unfounded in general. But again the real problem isn't these whiners, it's the vast majority of America lazily/foolishly putting up with it. Whatever; I'm not. In fact I'm sick to death of this spittle.

 

[outsidethecamp]

I don't hate gays, I just think the lifestyle is destructive and apparently God does, too.

http://donboys.cstnews.com/marriage-makes-rude-crude-and-lewd-men-into-softies

 

[AvilaSurfer]

Who are these Catholics who hate gays? Where are they? I know LOTS of Catholics who are opposed to SSM. I'm one of them. I know NO ONE who hates gays. Stupid title. Stupid premise.

 

[outsidethecamp]

Who are these Catholics who hate gays? Where are they? I know LOTS of Catholics who are opposed to SSM. I'm one of them. I know NO ONE who hates gays. Stupid title. Stupid premise.

I think if they can link "hatred" to Christians, then maybe they can cause the government to change the content inside Bibles or have them banned outright. I don't know, just speculating where this "hatred" thing is going.

 

[brewmama]

I love how he presumes to speak for "so many Catholics." Oh brother. Seems to me the good Father is just scratching a "pay attention to me!" itch.

I also believe there's far more hatred and lack of "tolerance" coming from so-called oppressed groups than those they point a finger to as their oppressors, often via unfounded stereotypes of Catholics/Christians/whoevers being these evil nasty bigots, which is typically either "proven" by cherry-picking isolated examples or just unfounded in general. But again the real problem isn't these whiners, it's the vast majority of America lazily/foolishly putting up with it. Whatever; I'm not. In fact I'm sick to death of this spittle.

Amen. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Armoured]

Here is a transcript of Father James' remarks, in case the server hosting the image of his Facebook post goes down:

Oop! The usual suspects ain't gunna like THAT!

 

[Armoured]

Maybe. But most of the hate I see is from the gays, not at the gays. To say otherwise is disingenuous at the very least. How about calling for love from the gays?

An example of such "hate" please?

 

[Red Fox]

Well, I think the father's message is well written and I fully agree with him. He obviously has a better grasp on the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13 on love than most Christians I have met over the years. I have met more clanging cymbals and resounding gongs while I was still a Christian (and even today) than I did find Christians who actually represented the teachings of that bible chapter or the teachings of Jesus about loving others and other Christians or about not judging other people.

 

[Fish and Bread]

Who are these Catholics who hate gays? Where are they?

I've heard that Father James got a lot of hateful remarks directed both towards himself and towards gays in response to what he wrote. I don't have a Facebook account, but if you do, perhaps you can "friend" him and read the responses to what he wrote and judge for yourself. I haven't personally seen the responses, I'm just going by what I've heard, so you may want to go in and verify if Facebook is something you do.

 

[Armoured]

I've heard that Father James got a lot of hateful remarks directed both towards himself and towards gays in response to what he wrote. I don't have a Facebook account, but if you do, perhaps you can "friend" him and read the responses to what he wrote and judge for yourself. I haven't personally seen the responses, I'm just going by what I've heard, so you may want to go in and verify if Facebook is something you do.

Do you really believe the people making the "we don't hate gays" claims actually believe it themselves?

 

[Red Fox]

I've heard that Father James got a lot of hateful remarks directed both towards himself and towards gays in response to what he wrote.

Oh, I bet he did, and I bet these remarks were extremely vile too.

I don't have a Facebook account, but if you do, perhaps you can "friend" him and read the responses to what he wrote and judge for yourself. I haven't personally seen the responses, I'm just going by what I've heard, so you may want to go in and verify if Facebook is something you do.

I have a Facebook account and I may just look him up.

 

[Fish and Bread]

I think if they can link "hatred" to Christians, then maybe they can cause the government to change the content inside Bibles or have them banned outright. I don't know, just speculating where this "hatred" thing is going.

Instead of worrying about how society may or may not react to the perception that some Christian groups and individuals use religion as a pretense for espousing hated and bigotry towards gays, perhaps we should instead worry about the hatred and bigotry that may exist and stamp it out as best we can in our own religious communities. After all, Christianity is in part supposed to be about having love in our hearts and trying to do the right thing, even if we technically have the right not to.

 

[Red Fox]

Instead of worrying about how society may or may not react to the perception that some Christian groups and individuals use religion as a pretense for espousing hated and bigotry towards gays, perhaps we should instead worry about the hatred and bigotry that may exist and stamp it out as best we can in our own religious communities. After all, Christianity is in part supposed to be about having love in our hearts and trying to do the right thing, even if we technically have the right not to.

In other words, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

 

[Sword of the Lord]

Do you really believe the people making the "we don't hate gays" claims actually believe it themselves?

Do you actually believe people supporting homosexuality and claiming to be Christian actually believe it themselves? Your answer is probably my answer.