I am tired of being called homophobic.  I do not have an aversion or fear of homosexuals.  In fact, I have friends who are gay and I would be the first to defend them if they were being bullied or treated unfairly.  However, recently, I keep hearing this accusation and comments like “you Catholics believe homosexuals are gravely disordered”.  First, the Church talks about the act of homosexual sex as being gravely disordered, not the people.  The Church has always separated the dignity of the person from the sinfulness of an act.  The homosexual person is as valued in the eyes of God as a heterosexual person.  The usual rebuttal at that point, though, is usually, “how dare you call an act of love between two consenting adults as gravely disordered,” as if the Church is pointing its fingers only at homosexuals and hence is homophobic.  I then point out that the Church also teaches that the act of masturbation is gravely disordered.   Thus, the same label is applied to heterosexuals (and that would include a huge percentage of the population, both married and unmarried, both devout and non-devout, that have been guilty of this sin).  Does this mean that all heterosexuals who masturbate  are gravely disordered?  No, of  course these people are not; it is the act that is gravely disordered.

Remember, sex between a man and a woman has two functions; it is procreative and it is unitive.  Masturbation is gravely disordered, as is homosexual sex, because if violates natural law.    The two acts cannot result in the conception of a child.

So, the next time someone accuses the Catholic Church of being homophobic, say to them “no, God loves gays.  If you are offended because the Church says that something you do is gravely disordered, be comforted to know that most straight people also do things that are gravely disordered.  The Church is full of sinners who do a myriad of different kinds of sins.  There is always room for more sinners to join, both gay and non-gay”.

In 2012, in Britain, it is now possible to be fired for wearing a cross and you can’t do ANYTHING about it.  The government argues that it is not your right to be able to display a cross as you might offend someone and you always have the option to find another job.  In Ontario, Canada, the government is trying to push Gay-Straight Alliances down the throat of the Catholic School boards.  As such, the Catholic school would be forced to allow speakers into the schools to speak to the youth about not just anti-bullying, which is just fine,  but to promote issues not compatible to Catholic teaching.   These are but two examples of how Catholics are losing the ability to live out their faith lives with freedom.

In Rome, you can visit the tombs of the early Christians.  You can see martyrs who had to give up their lives for their Christian beliefs.  There are kilometers upon kilometers of graves of these brave souls.  These Saints should be models for us during these times.  Are you finally tired of being pushed down and marginalized?   Are you ready to make sacrifices to be able to express your beliefs?   How committed are you really?  Think about it.

Okay, so here’s the deal with this blog… first, this has nothing to do with my professional life.  I am a devout Catholic and I wanted a place to talk about popular culture from a Catholic perspective.  Why punk?  Well, to be punk (and yes, I am old enough to remember the whole punk ideology) is to be anti-establishment.  It was against conforming to societal norms.  Well, since the 70’s, society has now drifted into one where tolerance is considered the most important of virtues, where human secularism reigns supreme and Catholics are ridiculed and belittled for their beliefs.  Thus, a Catholic punk is one who rebels against the society by holding fast to 2000 years of Catholic tradition, who believes in a God, and who understands that there is a “right and wrong” that is not merely defined by what society holds to be fashionable at the moment!

If you want to be part of this revolution, sign in below to follow my blog!  Be part of the Church Militant who are tired of compromise and retreat.  It is time to join with the Church Triumphant and start to draw the battle lines!