“WE DON’T DO LOSING”
It’s a slogan that’s beginning to appear on signs in front of the California State Supreme Headquarters here in San Francisco as the Justices consider the constitutionality of Prop 8.
In his post that begins with a reference to the Pope’s “Bully Pulpit,” George Seeber says: “What the church teaches on ‘homosexuality’ even today makes me feel ‘small’ if I allow it.”
Right on, George, don’t allow it. You inspire me. I say it loud, and say it clear “I will never be bullied ever again. Never!” And for me this is no longer a theoretical discussion about what constitutes bullying or an analysis of the necessary and sufficient conditions for determining who’s bullying whom.
I try not to allow myself the indulgence of retaliation or vindictiveness. And that is often a very difficult path. Not every action is clear-cut and I can’t be totally sure that it defends the life and well-being of myself or other gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered people--I do know that compassion includes protecting myself against harm.
So I have worked hard to take all the retaliation out of these courses of action:
I do not give any allegiance or money to the Roman church or any institution, whether it’s the Jesuits or the Opus, that is in any way connected to Rome. It seems very clear to me that some of the responsibility for the high rates of teen suicides among gay kids lies at the feet to those who tell them that they are abnormal, sick, perverted, and cannot make a life for themselves as normal adults. Alinsky style, holding the collective clerical noses close to their own shit spotlights their failure to provide compassion and love, and their active participation in destroying lives. As the scandal of pedophilia in the Roman church became headlines, public approval of same sex marriages increased. Any right-minded person is eventually going to question the moral authority of an institution that refuses the most basic steps to prevent sexual abuse among its own ranks. Not just historically, but continually, or “on-goingly!”.
Although the charges filed against Ratzinger in the Hague for crimes against humanity will probably go nowhere, still they were filed. THE HAGUE: Pope Benedict Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity, And this is the pope!
Outing elected officials, clergy, even rock stars has always been controversial. A large number of gay men and women object. But when the public mens’ room solicitations of Larry Craig and explicit sexual photographs of Roberto Arango on Grindr, a online gay hook-up service, both Republican politicians, make their way into the public domain and these men have consistently supported repressive legislation with regard to the equal rights of gay and lesbian people, I say they are fair game. When I quoted the graphic testimony of priests who had sex with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. I violated the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” pact among gay clergy, and I also risked reinforcing an image of gay sex as disgusting and perverse. I’ve read and considered George Seeber’s thoughts about sexuality, especially homosexuality, being under the veil of secrecy, and presumably staying there where they ought to be. But George, isn’t secrecy the root cause of the problem? If you need a graphic description of what results from thinking that your sexual instincts are “intrinsically disordered,” read more about Uncle Ted’s exploits.
When I hear the question of how many priests are gay, and the estimates are below 50-60%, though there are no hard numbers, I think someone’s dreaming of days way back when everyone was straight. Yesterday at the sitting of the Gay Buddhist Sangha, there was a new face, another former Jesuit, and his husband--they were married in New York. He was in the New York Province in the mid-80’s. Of the seven in his class, four were openly gay and two came out after vows. The evidence among the regular clergy will also be vague at best. Many US bishops spend an enormous amount of time trolling third world seminaries to skim off the best and brightest--a green card guarantee better than the lottery. Again anecdotal, but some really cute Latin priests have been seen dancing the night away in several gay bars. They do not apparently experience the moral angst of my Irish guilt.
When my gay Jesuit friend tells me that he is happy that he doesn’t have to listen to some bishop who orders his priests to preach against same sex marriage and divorce and abortion--and other nonsense--I agree. And I am happy that I do not have my retirement savings,and my health care so connected to the order that I have to look for the least morally offensive option. And, truth be told, I do not have much security in those areas either, but I value my freedom.
Needless to say, over time, I’ve come to see the Roman church not as an institution created by g_d and guided by Spirit, but a human organization that’s lost connection with its core mission to keep the Teaching of Jesus alive in the world. For a long time, I tried to hang onto the notion that somehow there was some “faithful remnant” that guarded the “Truth.” But now that seems to me to be just some kind of mythic, magical thinking. It might work in a Tolkien world of Hobbits, dragons and unicorns, but it doesn’t work in my world that includes HIV and gay kids dealing with self-hatred and addiction. Some might say that I lost my faith. But what I discovered was a source of faith much more profound than struggling with riddles and nonsense “from the chair.”
Right on, George, don’t allow it. You inspire me. I say it loud, and say it clear “I will never be bullied ever again. Never!” And for me this is no longer a theoretical discussion about what constitutes bullying or an analysis of the necessary and sufficient conditions for determining who’s bullying whom.
I try not to allow myself the indulgence of retaliation or vindictiveness. And that is often a very difficult path. Not every action is clear-cut and I can’t be totally sure that it defends the life and well-being of myself or other gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered people--I do know that compassion includes protecting myself against harm.
So I have worked hard to take all the retaliation out of these courses of action:
I do not give any allegiance or money to the Roman church or any institution, whether it’s the Jesuits or the Opus, that is in any way connected to Rome. It seems very clear to me that some of the responsibility for the high rates of teen suicides among gay kids lies at the feet to those who tell them that they are abnormal, sick, perverted, and cannot make a life for themselves as normal adults. Alinsky style, holding the collective clerical noses close to their own shit spotlights their failure to provide compassion and love, and their active participation in destroying lives. As the scandal of pedophilia in the Roman church became headlines, public approval of same sex marriages increased. Any right-minded person is eventually going to question the moral authority of an institution that refuses the most basic steps to prevent sexual abuse among its own ranks. Not just historically, but continually, or “on-goingly!”.
Although the charges filed against Ratzinger in the Hague for crimes against humanity will probably go nowhere, still they were filed. THE HAGUE: Pope Benedict Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity, And this is the pope!
Outing elected officials, clergy, even rock stars has always been controversial. A large number of gay men and women object. But when the public mens’ room solicitations of Larry Craig and explicit sexual photographs of Roberto Arango on Grindr, a online gay hook-up service, both Republican politicians, make their way into the public domain and these men have consistently supported repressive legislation with regard to the equal rights of gay and lesbian people, I say they are fair game. When I quoted the graphic testimony of priests who had sex with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. I violated the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” pact among gay clergy, and I also risked reinforcing an image of gay sex as disgusting and perverse. I’ve read and considered George Seeber’s thoughts about sexuality, especially homosexuality, being under the veil of secrecy, and presumably staying there where they ought to be. But George, isn’t secrecy the root cause of the problem? If you need a graphic description of what results from thinking that your sexual instincts are “intrinsically disordered,” read more about Uncle Ted’s exploits.
When I hear the question of how many priests are gay, and the estimates are below 50-60%, though there are no hard numbers, I think someone’s dreaming of days way back when everyone was straight. Yesterday at the sitting of the Gay Buddhist Sangha, there was a new face, another former Jesuit, and his husband--they were married in New York. He was in the New York Province in the mid-80’s. Of the seven in his class, four were openly gay and two came out after vows. The evidence among the regular clergy will also be vague at best. Many US bishops spend an enormous amount of time trolling third world seminaries to skim off the best and brightest--a green card guarantee better than the lottery. Again anecdotal, but some really cute Latin priests have been seen dancing the night away in several gay bars. They do not apparently experience the moral angst of my Irish guilt.
When my gay Jesuit friend tells me that he is happy that he doesn’t have to listen to some bishop who orders his priests to preach against same sex marriage and divorce and abortion--and other nonsense--I agree. And I am happy that I do not have my retirement savings,and my health care so connected to the order that I have to look for the least morally offensive option. And, truth be told, I do not have much security in those areas either, but I value my freedom.
Needless to say, over time, I’ve come to see the Roman church not as an institution created by g_d and guided by Spirit, but a human organization that’s lost connection with its core mission to keep the Teaching of Jesus alive in the world. For a long time, I tried to hang onto the notion that somehow there was some “faithful remnant” that guarded the “Truth.” But now that seems to me to be just some kind of mythic, magical thinking. It might work in a Tolkien world of Hobbits, dragons and unicorns, but it doesn’t work in my world that includes HIV and gay kids dealing with self-hatred and addiction. Some might say that I lost my faith. But what I discovered was a source of faith much more profound than struggling with riddles and nonsense “from the chair.”
Listen up Ratzinger et al, “WE DON’T DO LOSING”
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