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Reasons Why the Catholic Church Is So Homophobic

Posted by libhom Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Ratzinger looking even more evil than usualCatholic pontiff Joseph Ratzinger's habit of spewing heterosexist nonsense is not only a legitimate subject of condemnation. It also is a legitimate subject of inquiry and analysis.

The Catholic Church has changed its attitudes on the Earth revolving around the sun. It hasn't been so long since they admitted that evolution happened. Yet, they still make barbaric and superstitious claims about homosexuality.

Why?

Part of it is something that is pretty much secret to most heteros. Most Catholic priests are sexually active gay men. One weird rite of passage for so many gay Catholic men is to see a priest that sermonized against homosexuality at a gay bar, bookstore, pride celebration (frockless) or at a bathhouse. Closeted queers are often vocal in their homophobic comments, hoping that those comments will divert any questions about their sexual orientations or gender identities. Expand that to trying to keep most of a global priesthood in the closet, and you can see part of the reason why Ratzinger, regardless of what his sexual orientation actually may be, is so fanatical in his bigoted comments against the queer community.

Another reason has to do with the disturbing minority of priests who are child rapists. Ratzi and so many other Catholic clerics have tried to cover this up for years, though that strategy has backfired. Getting the flock all riled up over homosexuality or abortion is a great way to divert attention.

But, there is more to it than that. Although priests raping girls and boys both are common occurrences, raping boys gets more public attention because of our society's heterosexism and misogyny. Many of the boys used by the rapist priests are gay, which makes them more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. If those boys can be convinced that being gay is wrong, they are more likely to believe that they are at fault or to feel too self conscious to go public. Even delaying the coming out process of young gay victims of priestly rape can protect the perpetrators via the statute of limitations. The repugnant reality is that the heterosexist rantings of the Catholic Church are partly designed to protect the church from the victims of its pedophile priests.

The other reason, of course, is that the Bible is homophobic, and Christianity is a homophobic religion. However, the Catholic clergy routinely reject other things in the Bible according to the dictates of the latest Pope. Their clinging to homophobic bigotry cannot be explained by the generic bigotry of Christianity alone.

Photo: eürodäna

 

4 comments

  1. Christopher Says:
  2. Long ago, before I was happily married to Jim, for a short time, I ran around with a bunch of current and former Jesuits.

    Now, I totally admit I can be too naive for my own good but back then, I was really clueless and I had just come out, so I felt safe hanging out with all these gay men of the cloth.

    It turned out these Jesuits were the most fucked up, conflicted and in some cases, deranged men I have ever met. I totally blame the garbage they were taught as the source of their internalized homophobia and self-hatred.

    One Jesuit was a heroin addict: one Jesuit liked little boys around the age of 12: one Jesuit was so depressed he could only function in the world if he downed a fifth of vodka first. You get the picture.

    I quickly realized just how messed up Christianity had made these guys. It was one of the many reasons I decided at an early age to never set foot in a Catholic church again. Religious doctrine doesn't lead to mental and emotional health. Especially, if you're gay.

     
  3. John Says:
  4. I always thought that Pope looked evil. Glad to know I'm not the only one.

     
  5. two crows Says:
  6. I'm pretty sure the priests aren't the only ones. And, at least they can, if they choose to, practice their gayness.

    I used to work in a psych ward in a Catholic hospital. The number of lesbian nuns we hosted was quite high. I'm sure the fact that they had much less ability to allow themselves to know they were lesbians is what led them into the revolving door of the psych ward over and over and over.

     
  7. Anonymous Says:
  8. I think it all starts with the religion itself, however, there is a minority of Christians who do not exclude homosexuals. So that doesn't explain why most Christians adhere to such a literal, backward system of beliefs. All very complicated. And so much fear and pain.

    Utterly pointless, if you ask me.

     

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