Lesbian Catholic school teacher fired after mother's death because obit listed her partner

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

67. Now I understand

You are afraid that her students may discover she is a lesbian, and say "Hey, she is really a good person. This is someone whom we should accept, not hate and fear like georges641 does." It would seem that tolerance is not one of your attributes. You seem too eager to condemn, and not open to love.

You remind me of a man I used to know who inveighed on homosexuals. When I asked what he thought about Christ's command to love your neighbor, he replied, "That was just Jesus being touchy-feely." I must admit that I had an urge to strike him, but in the interests of tolerance, I refrained.

Perhaps I should mention that my younger brother is gay, and two of my wife's and my closest friends are a gay couple who have been together for over 30 years. I refuse to condemn any of them as sinners. I believe that what they do in the privacy of their own bedrooms is their business and no one else's. Likewise, I believe that much of what the official Church teachings on sex -- teachings devised in their entirety solely by unmarried men -- are crap. The rules on divorce and remarriage, for example, are based on a literal interpretation of Matthew 5:31. However, look at the context of Matthew 5:21-48: there are a series of scenarios presented by Christ, but only one is taken literally in Church teaching, the one on divorce. (Do you really believe that if you say "you fool" to someone, you are condemning yourself to hell?) No, only a group of the unmarried would have those overly restrictive rules.

Does Christ condemn homosexuals? No. The only biblical condemnation is from Leviticus -- which also condemns mixing two different fabrics in a piece of clothing. Do you believe that those who wear a cotton-polyester blend are sinners? How about those who eat shellfish?