Minnesota's marriage amendment fight funded by Catholics across U.S.

[adinasauce]

Catholic parishes and affiliated groups around the country are pouring money into Minnesota's fight to pass a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

From the $3,000 sent by Catholics in Baton Rouge, La., to the $500 from the Diocese of Austin, Texas, more than two dozen dioceses and archdioceses have dug deep for the local effort. The

Comments

[sparkindarkness]

Ugh this is one of the reasons why i look with less-than-friendliness at people who announce they're so utterly pro-GBLT-human-rights but then sit in the back of a homophobic church, listening to the homophobic words, giving strength to the homophobic preacher and putting money in the homophobic pot.

The rest - I wish I could be shocked, but, really that Catholic church is so very determined to deny our humanity that I'm not. It's what the church does - oppose our existence in every single way possible, whenever they can, wherever they can.

[bestdaywelived]

But as a Catholic, you CAN'T do that! LITERALLY. CAN'T. It's part of doctrine that you take it all!

[moonshaz]

I don't get it, either.

I live in an area where Catholics are an overwhelming majority, and I know TONS of Catholics who seem to treat their religion as if it was a cafeteria-situation, ignoring all the parts they don't like.

Birth control is a classic example. There have been lots of studies showing that a large percentage of American Catholics use birth control and see nothing wrong with it, regardless of the Church's official stance: Americans, Including Catholics, Say Birth Control Is Morally OK

I agree with them about birth control, but my question is, "Okay, then why be a Catholic, if you don't agree with what the Church teaches?"

I. Don't. Get. It.

[redstar826]

I was raised Catholic and didn't even know about the birth control issue until I was an adult. Not every parish stresses that particular issue.

Honestly, this shit is a lot more complicated than the knee jerky 'well just leave!' stuff that comes up every time this is discussed because in my experience the culture of many parishes is different than that of Protestant churches and it isn't as simple as just packing up and finding another church. And, in my experience, there are other issues that the Catholic church is actually better on compared to many protestant churches (workers rights/support for labor, immigration issues, anti-death penalty, anti-war, etc)

[redstar826]

Because they like their local parish, because being Catholic is a big part of their culture (especially for folks for whom being Catholic is part of their ethnic heritage), because there are enough things they do like about the church, because they want to attend church with the rest of their family, because there is no church that perfectly meshes with their personal beliefs, because people tend to stick around where they already know people and already feel comfortable, and on and so forth

[kyra_neko_rei]

Because that, and because they feel connected to the theology, the deity, the whole rich tapestry of belief, and feel that a rejection of "the Catholic Church" as it is ruled today can't help but be a rejection of that as well. I, personally, wouldn't feel that way, but a Catholic, raised in a religious tradition where the church is so intertwined with and connected to the hierarchy, might not easily perceive the possibility for an acceptable means of separating them. And unlike Protestant churches, which seem to schism and multiply at the drop of a hat, there isn't a ready substitute (or glut of them) of alternative churches with acceptable theology

[yndigot]

I know I mentioned in another post that leaving the Catholic church was very difficult for me because, although I'm an atheist by "belief" and find many of the social teachings of the church repugnant, I live in an area with a very small Mexican American population that connects to one another mostly through Catholic Churches. Catholicism is deeply ingrained in many ethnic communities and being cut off from the Church has cut me off from a lot of what's available in the way of a Mexican American cultural community here.

[redstar826]

But in reality though, American Catholics do it without giving it a second thought. No matter what the doctrine says, people do pick and choose.

[moonshaz]

They do. ABSOLUTELY.

[kyra_neko_rei]

I've heard that this is also a cultural thing in Italy, that there is a long tradition over there of people listening to what the church tells them and then going home and ignoring it, sometimes quite openly.

I can't dig up a citation without tearing my room apart looking for it, but I remember reading one author mention a Catholic priest openly trying to get a doctor to do in vitro fertilization so that he and his girlfriend could have a child without him breaking celibacy to the extent of having sex with her. Sex, birth control, abortion, you name it.

[amyura]

Sure you can. You're just "sinning" when you do. Heck, I've not only stopped going to the Catholic church but officially become a member (with a new member initiation ceremony and everything) of the UCC, but because I was baptized and confirmed Catholic, they just consider me a Catholic who's headed straight to hell. All I have to do is go to confession, do my pennance, and boom, I'm a Catholic in good standing again.

[freuen]

This. I grew up Catholic and my father is a Catholic deacon. Even though I know that he loves me and he is actually very supportive all things considered, it still hurts that he is ordained in a faith that denies my basic humanity.