Yeah, they do say “encouraging” things like they can envision change. They call, like Vincent Paglia does, for serious protection of LGBTQ’s in battles over laws making us illegal. But is he “dissenting” with Josef Ratzinger or just detailing #2358? And with the hordes of Catholic blog posters and Catholic newspaper editorials who condemn us so badly here in the US with the support of Catechism 2351 ff about offenses against chastity, including 2358 that says we’re depraved and intrinsically disordered? I’ve decided we need to work on the real problem, acceptance of our genuine sacrifices as equally valid as those of the hetero married. We’re only delaying getting to the center of the dissent: The deep sacrificial commitments of a marriage relationship, not the genital plumbing hookups.

Christine, above, helped me clarify this thing today. #2358 brings us to the heart of the dissent, really an impossible dichotomy, “depraved” in #2357, worthy of “respect” in #2358, and called to total chastity in #2359. The hierarchy has had this “respect” thing for a long while, “All Our Children” etc. The theology of love (social justice, human relations) has to trump biology. I wonder whether Galileo would have thought his dissent was more valid than ours?

More importantly are we building a “dissent with love” model with people like brother Vincent and brother Geoffrey Robinson and the like, working from within? And not just the model and theories/historical basis of dissent, but a transparent, brave, loving network of dissenters that can exert real pressure for change? Yes, change comes bit by bit, but without radical bits and big radical bits, the violence against us kills for longer times. The first step is doing “the least harm” not getting a new catechism. I cannot imagine putting up with such slow bits of change if I were anyone in slavery. (Did you hear about the Irish slaveshops for unwed mothers run by nuns that is now being investigated by the government?)

Brother Geoffrey declined my suggestion at New Ways’ 7th last year that he be the leader of such a loving dissent network. I can understand a person’s lack of time/energy. But without the union of many people of his stature and intellectual prowess coupled with the rest of us diehards, the change will be painfully slow and the guilt will be ours for not trying harder. O.K. I also understand that the prophetic work of New Ways, Dignity and all the wonderfully supportive organizations do make our case strongly and crystal clear. But isn’t it time to create this 21st century model for dissent that leaves out excommunication/defection and everything else that, short of execution/incarceration, is still so damaging?

What does Catholic mean? Worrying about eternal damnation because of defying a Catholic catechetical definition? Worrying about being barred from participating in the Eucharist? About a priest’s or other hierarch’s pronunciations? Yes, sexuality or rather homosexuality is in a category all by itself. Even male priests getting married to women (oh dear), and clearly women deacons, are now issues that seem ready for acceptance. But same-sex marriage is off limits even within Catholic reform groups in my experience like CTA, ACC etc. And these groups, of course, are not approved Catholic organizations to begin with. (What has happened to CALGM?) The gay thing is getting closer attention to the basic Christian commandment about love, but we’re being sidetracked with the talk about respect.

So I’m changing my approach. I think its a trap, a distraction, getting focussed on treating LGBT’s with respect for human dignity instead of lovingly pushing the obvious (to a growing majority) truth about the essence of marriage by LGBT’s not being a thing of sexual plumbing, but about a solemn commitment to life beyond simple “natural procreation”, a sacrifice for building the social justice “loving” world-wide community. We need to teach that sexual pleasure is just as much a God-created part of such solemn unions whether hetero or homo. We need to remove the pious (sanctimonious) nosegay in #2358/59 that we must practice total abstinence and “… unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition”; that we can achieve “Christian perfection.”

Did you see Amy Goodman today and the piece with Zach Wahls, founder of the group, “Scouts for Equality”? Wahls’ lesbian parents were actively involved in his Boy Scout activities, and he wants others to be allowed a similar opportunity. His book, “My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family” and many other stories are what we should be sending out to the likes of Brother Vincent and to other centers of influence in the Catholic (the catechetic adherents or who count themselves as “active”) Church. No more getting schmoozed by those who say we shouldn’t be discriminated against and still stick by the catechism waiting for some millennial process while we are harmed, many of us, mortally.

So now with the English and Welsh Bishops making positive statements, I’m very wary of spending time on them with “their” topic. Let’s give them and all Catholics around the world a vision of what the next stage of “respect for human dignity” is. Let’s show them the Zach Wahls of the world. Show them that they should be –including the KofC– spending some of their money on supporting us for our solemn commitments, or least not spending any money denouncing those of us who break the mold of biological plumbing and still make the sacrifices of married life. Or maybe they should be giving their money to the poor sinners failing around #2331 and ff -sins against chastity– who are really devastating the world by breaking the 6th Commandment.

Thanks, Francis.

God bless…