Pride.
I was going to post something about Gay Pride. It's Pride weekend in Minneapolis. I deleted a post I was working on because it was coming off preachy. I hate preachy - especially from me - I'm not a preacher or a teacher.
A few days ago I wrote about envy - how envy is such a gay sin. It's related to pride. Pride is a capital sin. It's a big sin. It's the devil's sin. Envy is derived from pride. Anger too. Vainglory emanates from that base. It's really about inordinate love of self.
So watch Gay Pride festivities and you will note that it's a huge display of these things ... as well unbridled concupiscence of the flesh. Such as gluttony or intemperance - which gives birth to all sorts of vice and foolishness - or camp. Not to overlook lust. Gay people put examples of all of this on parade - in their parades.
As Garrigou-Lagrange notes, from lust proceeds:
Spiritual blindness, poor judgment, impetuosity, inconstancy, love of self even to hatred of God, attachment to the present life which destroy hope of eternal life.Hence, many may not see or understand what is so bad about Pride. There are a lot of sins which flow from inordinate love of self - or another way of saying it, disordered love of self. Religious groups and churches which support Pride, neither serve God nor the people they seek to minister to. Perhaps this Scripture could be applied to them: "You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves." - Matt. 23:15
Self knowledge.
When gay Catholics say it isn't important to figure out why they are gay, they are quite wrong. It is very important to try to understand the roots of sin, and the inclination which can lead us to sin - or, the predominant faults which disposes us to sin. (Homosexual inclination is not a sin in itself of course.) Giving up, giving in can be another vice cloaked as virtue. It can be linked to what spiritual writers call 'acedia' - spiritual sloth.
Again, Garrigou-Lagrange tells us:
Acedia (sloth) begets hatred of spiritual things, whence are born: malice, rancor, pusillanimity, discouragement, spiritual topor, forgetfulness of the precepts, seeking after forbidden things.
That's the stuff which underlies the principles of Gay Pride.
Art: Vicious Circle* - Jacek Malczewski (1854-1929)
*Did you know the word 'vicious' is derived from 'vice'?
I have to disagree with you a bit on this one, Terry. I don't think this is about "inordinate love of self." I think this is all about trying to run from their own self loathing. I think the use of the word "pride" is an over compensation and a cover-up for what they really feel. And they are mostly trying to hide from themselves. It is too painful to face the shame that they really feel. One of the reasons, I think, why homosexuals tend to be very promiscuous is that they are using sex like a drug to try to drown out their self loathing. We all have a written law within us. I think it is in our DNA. We know innately when we have strayed from doing what is right.
ReplyDeleteThat is why we should not stand in condemnation of those caught up in this sin. When they hear our words of condemnation, we are awakening the shame they feel and they cannot deal with it. We need to show them the love and mercy of Jesus Christ and allow that mercy to heal them so that they can deal with their shame and hopefully break free of their sinful habits.
I think that is why ministry to our LGBT brothers and sisters is so essential. They need healing, not condemnation.
That's cool. Gay people will reject the idea that they compensate for a sort of innate shame, or that they are in any sort of denial, or they are in any way hiding their real selves. Quite the contrary. In fact - to feel shame, or in any way deny one's 'sexual orientation' is generally considered mentally unhealthy if not pathological to some extent. Quilt and shame has no place in contemporary culture.
ReplyDeleteI try very hard never to condemn anyone - however, sinful actions and scandalous behavior can and must be judged and condemned. Despite the fact civil law has been changed, and natural law is debated, Divine law remains unchanged. Abortion and contraception are legal, but they remain immoral acts. I surely do not condemn the person - nor my friends. None of us has access to another's conscience, as you know.
Pride and concupiscence arises from inordinate self love, leading to all sorts of sins. To understand the root causes of sins is to understand the behavior which results. I haven't taken the time to discuss that aspect in depth - but there is a violation, or sin against the theological virtue of Charity at the root of 'gay sin'. It is against the love of God and love of one's neighbor. Concentrating on the 'gay' is a way for the penitent to avoid dealing with the roots of his sin.
I personally o not care what a person calls himself - gay, lgbtq, straight, whatever. Sin is sin and there are deep roots. My concern is people examen themselves, understand and know themselves. We have lost the sense of sin - in fact, I wanted to post on this - but someone at Crisis has already done so. It isn't just that we have lost the sense of sin - as the popes have pointed out - but we see the sense of sin as an illness in itself - a disorder - and we medicate and do therapy to get rid of it.
Anyway - thanks for commenting - let's stay compassionate and merciful towards all. God bless!
Couple misprints - Quilt sb guilt.
ReplyDelete'I personally do not care what people call themselves' - runs into 'sin is sin' . I'm so not saying or suggesting it is a sin to identify in this or that way, neither am I saying the inclination itself is a sin - all that I think and believe is contained in the Catechism on this issue.