Faith. Christian Faith is a journey with lots of twists and turns. But it is a faith toward the goal of joy, hope, peace and love for all. Always asks, "who is my neighbor?" Answer is hard: it is everyone. Blessing and peace to Pope Francis. He was like all human's, not prefect, but he was an example for us all to follow. Andra, thank you for sharing. You have had a very interesting journey. May it continue.
A key criticism of Pope Francis’s approach to gay issues is that his rhetorical emphasis on inclusion, dignity, and pastoral care created a misleading impression of change, while in reality, the Church’s official teachings on homosexuality remain unchanged—and remain a powerful weapon in the hands of far-right Catholic activists like Robert P. George, who actively push for legal and social discrimination against gay people.
Francis’s words about welcoming gay people—"Who am I to judge?"—suggested a break from the past, but his refusal to amend the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which still describes homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered” and of “great depravity,” left those teachings intact as a justification for discrimination. While Francis promoted pastoral outreach, his failure to correct the Catechism’s language allows anti-gay Catholics to continue citing Church doctrine as moral cover for bigotry.
Figures like Robert P. George exploit this doctrinal ambiguity. While Francis preached mercy, George and his ideological allies—including activists at organizations like the National Organization for Marriage and the Ethics and Public Policy Center—argue that Catholic doctrine obligates opposition to gay rights. They lobby against same-sex marriage, support “religious freedom” exemptions that enable discrimination (as does , and oppose non-discrimination protections for gay people. Anti-gay Catholics and Protestants alike secured a victory in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570 (2023), where the Supreme Court carved out an exception to public accommodation laws, allowing businesses to deny services to gay people based on religious beliefs under certain circumstances.
Because the Catechism remains unchanged, Francis’s pastoral language served as a rhetorical buffer—offering a softer public face of the Church while still providing theological ammunition to those who want to restrict gay rights. The result is a double game: Francis appeared progressive, but he refused to challenge the very doctrinal framework that justifies anti-LGB discrimination. This strategic ambiguity lets the Church appear compassionate while allowing its most reactionary elements to continue their crusade against gay equality.
Very interesting article. I have to admit I had never thought about a conservative Catholic (or the connection of Alito, Leo, et al) or the followers of Pope Francis. Thank you for today's post and education. It all gets so tricky.
I was raised Catholic, but left as soon as I got old enough to think for myself. Sex as sin per se is a ridiculous principle and this repression led to the priest sex abuse scandals across the world, as well as their obsession with the abortion issue. I won't even attend a wedding Mass for my relatives.
Well, this is some good shit. Welcome to the monkey house, Ms. Watkins.
"Many Christian Nationalists"... are drooling morons. I don't care what they think. Let me break it down to a TLDR;
the CN-Fundies 'won' in 1925 with their Scopes Trial victory. Oops, bad timing. The country was industrializing, educating, and become more secular. CN-F's found themselves being ridiculed out of public life. It got worse for them over time. They then tried to take on culture war battles to score more 'wins', like the Hays Code (but that was Catholics, does that count?), which liberals and libertines alike took joy in mocking and thwarting. Take them seriously? Not a chance, they were portrayed as in-bred, toothless snake-handling cretins. It took generations for them to recover to the point that Billy Graham visited the White House. And old Billy would today be considered a limp-wristed liberal because of all his tolerance. They've had an upswing since then, but I doubt if the dominant secular society is going to tolerate their bullshit much longer.
They want to use their churches to control our lives through politics? Oh, I don't think so. Tax the fucking churches. Turn our attention on them and drive them into the goddamn ground. Mock the dipshits back into obscurity, or, as they like to call it, "the wilderness".
While many contributors in MSM(mainstream media) and Substack authors may trivialize this comment there is a word to wise Don’t shuss away comments about the global economy You do so at your own financial peril To painfully watch the daily Orange Cheeto’s destruction of the federal government distracts us from a much graver issue at hand The US economy and its relevance in the world as its reserve currency is coming to an end with an ensuing debt crisis Failure to heed the flashing warning lights will lead to devastating consequences to investor’s portfolios globally
To see the reasoning behind such ominous warning lights see https://bit.ly/3Gk6Uhq As the boy scout motto says ”Be Prepared” Also see for video bit.ly/4cJACIT
For a graphic of fiat currency vs gold see this video at the 1hour mark https://bit.ly/4jFOdmF
The NYT reported that Pope Francis replaced some of the bishops and Cardinals in the US with those whose views were similar to his.. So. Hopefully there will be enough more progressive Cardinals to vote for a progressive.
Faith. Christian Faith is a journey with lots of twists and turns. But it is a faith toward the goal of joy, hope, peace and love for all. Always asks, "who is my neighbor?" Answer is hard: it is everyone. Blessing and peace to Pope Francis. He was like all human's, not prefect, but he was an example for us all to follow. Andra, thank you for sharing. You have had a very interesting journey. May it continue.
A key criticism of Pope Francis’s approach to gay issues is that his rhetorical emphasis on inclusion, dignity, and pastoral care created a misleading impression of change, while in reality, the Church’s official teachings on homosexuality remain unchanged—and remain a powerful weapon in the hands of far-right Catholic activists like Robert P. George, who actively push for legal and social discrimination against gay people.
Francis’s words about welcoming gay people—"Who am I to judge?"—suggested a break from the past, but his refusal to amend the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which still describes homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered” and of “great depravity,” left those teachings intact as a justification for discrimination. While Francis promoted pastoral outreach, his failure to correct the Catechism’s language allows anti-gay Catholics to continue citing Church doctrine as moral cover for bigotry.
Figures like Robert P. George exploit this doctrinal ambiguity. While Francis preached mercy, George and his ideological allies—including activists at organizations like the National Organization for Marriage and the Ethics and Public Policy Center—argue that Catholic doctrine obligates opposition to gay rights. They lobby against same-sex marriage, support “religious freedom” exemptions that enable discrimination (as does , and oppose non-discrimination protections for gay people. Anti-gay Catholics and Protestants alike secured a victory in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570 (2023), where the Supreme Court carved out an exception to public accommodation laws, allowing businesses to deny services to gay people based on religious beliefs under certain circumstances.
Because the Catechism remains unchanged, Francis’s pastoral language served as a rhetorical buffer—offering a softer public face of the Church while still providing theological ammunition to those who want to restrict gay rights. The result is a double game: Francis appeared progressive, but he refused to challenge the very doctrinal framework that justifies anti-LGB discrimination. This strategic ambiguity lets the Church appear compassionate while allowing its most reactionary elements to continue their crusade against gay equality.
Very interesting article. I have to admit I had never thought about a conservative Catholic (or the connection of Alito, Leo, et al) or the followers of Pope Francis. Thank you for today's post and education. It all gets so tricky.
I was raised Catholic, but left as soon as I got old enough to think for myself. Sex as sin per se is a ridiculous principle and this repression led to the priest sex abuse scandals across the world, as well as their obsession with the abortion issue. I won't even attend a wedding Mass for my relatives.
YUP!!!
Well, this is some good shit. Welcome to the monkey house, Ms. Watkins.
"Many Christian Nationalists"... are drooling morons. I don't care what they think. Let me break it down to a TLDR;
the CN-Fundies 'won' in 1925 with their Scopes Trial victory. Oops, bad timing. The country was industrializing, educating, and become more secular. CN-F's found themselves being ridiculed out of public life. It got worse for them over time. They then tried to take on culture war battles to score more 'wins', like the Hays Code (but that was Catholics, does that count?), which liberals and libertines alike took joy in mocking and thwarting. Take them seriously? Not a chance, they were portrayed as in-bred, toothless snake-handling cretins. It took generations for them to recover to the point that Billy Graham visited the White House. And old Billy would today be considered a limp-wristed liberal because of all his tolerance. They've had an upswing since then, but I doubt if the dominant secular society is going to tolerate their bullshit much longer.
They want to use their churches to control our lives through politics? Oh, I don't think so. Tax the fucking churches. Turn our attention on them and drive them into the goddamn ground. Mock the dipshits back into obscurity, or, as they like to call it, "the wilderness".
Somber Thoughts About the US Economy
While many contributors in MSM(mainstream media) and Substack authors may trivialize this comment there is a word to wise Don’t shuss away comments about the global economy You do so at your own financial peril To painfully watch the daily Orange Cheeto’s destruction of the federal government distracts us from a much graver issue at hand The US economy and its relevance in the world as its reserve currency is coming to an end with an ensuing debt crisis Failure to heed the flashing warning lights will lead to devastating consequences to investor’s portfolios globally
To see the reasoning behind such ominous warning lights see https://bit.ly/3Gk6Uhq As the boy scout motto says ”Be Prepared” Also see for video bit.ly/4cJACIT
For a graphic of fiat currency vs gold see this video at the 1hour mark https://bit.ly/4jFOdmF
Pope Francis met with Couchfucker yesterday, who undoubtedly read him excerpts from his
Hillbilly memoir, leading to his death from boredom.
The NYT reported that Pope Francis replaced some of the bishops and Cardinals in the US with those whose views were similar to his.. So. Hopefully there will be enough more progressive Cardinals to vote for a progressive.
He appointed many of those who will select the next pope.