Are we more concerned with earthly happiness and rights, or with eternal destination?


When New York legalized gay “marriage” back around June of 2011, it sparked a large celebration amongst homosexual activists, groups, and their various supporters. My comment was: “What a sad testament to the downturn of our country as people celebrate the legalization of offenses to God and offenses to humanity.” It was indeed sad because there was being celebrated and promoted a lifestyle that is directly opposed to the well-being of souls. I went on to point out the sanctity of Marriage, and the purpose for which God created male and female, etc…

I don’t’ recall who I quoted, but it was worth quoting then, and is worth repeating now: "Gay marriage/homosexuality is a grave offense. It is not a question of respecting people's rights or their feelings...it is a matter of a grave sin against God that could lead to damnation of a soul. We owe it to our brothers and sisters who have homosexual tendencies to tell them the truth and help curb them away from sin. Otherwise, we share in the culpability of their sin."

A friend of mine was in disagreement and expressed: “Have you seen statistics on divorce? Straight people obviously aren't keeping it such the sanctity that you make it out to be… This is a legal issue not religious. Religion has been used over the years for excuses as to why things were bad… Years from now your grandchildren won't know why it was so weird to begin with because it'll be the standard… To sum up, this is a legal issue not a religious one.” There was also mention by another friend about loving all people equally, not judging, God loving all people no matter what, etc…

Let me be clear. I have absolutely nothing against a person who has a same-sex attraction. And I believe every person deserves a life of dignity and should receive the love that God commands us to share. In fact, the Catholic Church even has a doctrine directly related to loving such persons:

The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination…constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2358)

But we must keep in mind that it is the PERSON we are to love and respect, not an ACT. We love the SINNER (and in fact, ALL of us are sinners), but we reject the SIN. The Catechism explains:

Basing itself on Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity (cf. Gen 19:1-29, Rom 1:24-27, 1Cor 6:10, 1Tim 1:10) 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 circumstance can they be approved. (CCC 2357) Homosexual persons are called to chastity. (CCC 2359) [emphasis mine)

God, not man, has made it very clear that homosexual acts are an abomination to His natural law. This is not my opinion, this is God's. And it’s not a legal issue about rights, it’s about the meaning of Marriage and why people, for the past many thousands of years, even prior to any religion, have Married.

My friend is right that my children may grow up in an age where people do not see what is strange about homosexual sex. This is exactly the point I am making. Our political leaders are turning this country into an affront to God. We are allowing our laws to directly contradict God's Law...we are damning ourselves in a sense by sitting by and accepting this (all those who do accept it). And yes, a person is free to do that, God has given us that freedom. But He also gave us clear guidance on what is expected of us, and homosexuality (the act) is contrary to that.

To take it a step further, this applies to heterosexual pre-marital sex as well. This is also a sin, also clearly spelled out for us in the Bible, and also addressed by the Church. Non-married heterosexuals are called to chastity, just like every other person in the world. And it’s also not a legal issue, but a religious one…because laws and rights without God will only lead us to damnation.

I bring these things up because I love my friends and I want them to know the truth. Don't be fooled into believing that just because we have a right to do what we want that we will also be "okay" with God. Unless we put His law first, we put ourselves in danger of eternal Hell. It's that simple, and it’s all in your Bible. We have a duty to share the TRUTH with our friends and loved ones, not out of concern for whether they are happy and fulfilled in THIS current life (on earth), but out of concern for the state of their souls and where they’ll be in the NEXT (eternal) life. And I certainly hope my friends will admonish and help me to see TRUTH as well.

Case in point: I know a person with a same-sex attraction. I absolutely adore this person, but I would never encourage that person to give into the sin of extra-marital and/or same-sex intercourse. On the contrary, I show my love for the person by giving encouragement for growth and change. And I show my hatred for the sin by helping that person in any way possible to avoid the sin. In return, I hope this friend will also help me to avoid sins that I am tempted to commit.

God DOES love everyone...EVERYONE. But, he gave us the freedom to choose Him or to not choose Him. And his message is so clear that we can either choose to sin, or not to sin…and that HE hates SIN, and that no SIN can enter into Heaven. God wants all His children (us) to be with Him in eternity. The question is, do you want what God wants, or do you want something else?

The legal restriction keeping homosexuals from marrying was, in a sense, acting to help protect them from the temptation to commit a grave sin. That may not have been the intention of the original laws, nonetheless it had [to some degree, however small] that consequence. Now that they have a legal right to marry, the law is, in consequence, encouraging and opening the door to the sin.

If we really love homosexuals, we should be telling them the truth about God's law, regardless of human/political law. Human laws won't matter when it comes time for judgment by Christ. Only God's Law will matter at that time.

The best way to show our love for our friends is to encourage them to find happiness in Christ and to embrace chastity. The legalizing of a sinful lifestyle in America really is “a sad testament to the downturn of our country as people celebrate the legalization of offenses to God and offenses to humanity.”

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