Something Eve Tushnet said...

St. Elizabeth of Hungary: Great Act of Renunciation.

St. Elizabeth is Eve Tushnet's patron saint.

The America interview.

Eve Tushnet discusses her book, Gay and Catholic: Accepting my Sexuality, Finding Community, Living My Faith.  The book is due out October 20.  In the interview with Sean Salai, S.J., Eve discusses in detail the content.  It's a very good interview, and if you ever had misgivings about Eve Tushnet and her POV on gay and Catholic, the interview helps you understand where she is coming from.

Not to worry.

I told that to a friend I ran into recently - I didn't tell him not to worry, but I told him I'm not so concerned about gay and Catholic issues any longer.  I explained that it seems things are coming together - it's 'out'  in the open now.  It's part of our reality.  In fact, gay seems to me to be more of a problem for straight people than it is for gay, ssa, the homosexually inclined or any category of LGBTQ.

As a Catholic, I favor Courage Apostolate and the way of life/sanctity promoted by the organization.  Courage has done a great job updating its website and offers real life narratives from members on how the organization has helped them live chaste and celibate lives in accord with Catholic teaching.  If someone is not near a group, or maybe not willing to be part of one - the site offers help and support, as well as resources to integrate one's spirituality.

A different perspective.

Courage may not appeal to everyone however, so there are other groups/movements out there.  It appears Eve Tushnet discusses these alternatives in her book.  I've written about some of them, questioning some of the literature, and so on.  I'm not as critical as I once was, but neither am I as interested as I once was.  It's not an important issue in my life.  Am I 'over it'?  I don't know.  It's just not an issue for me at this point in my life.  I can't worry about the 'terms' either.  "You say potato I say vodka" as Karen Walker would say.  But truly, some say gay, some say queer, others say ssa.  Fine.  Truth be told the term I think that has been hijacked is 'spiritual friendship'.  It's a religious term used by gay Catholics to denote chaste, loving friendship - but it is now misinterpreted by nuvo neo-Catholic apologists with websites to equate spiritual friendship with 'gay' or 'new homophiles'.   Thus every discussion in com-boxes tend to become inquisitions regarding orthodoxy and fidelity to Catholic teaching.  It gets to be a waste of time.

Ms. Tushnet said something that more or less jives with my POV and experience, and what I was kind of saying to the friend I ran into at the grocery store:

"One of the things that I find really heartening is just how many people there are who are coming out and accepting themselves, but also staying within the Catholic Church or other churches that hold to a traditional understanding of sexuality. That’s so different from when I became Catholic. Everything is so different and so much more open, in the sense of a camaraderie that was not there at all when I became Catholic, and it’s really great." - Eve Tushnet, America

Read the entire interview, and if interested, get the book when it comes out.  I think many people will be helped.  Eve Tushnet impresses me as faithful and Catholic.

Over the years a lot of people have left the Church.  Many still do, but as the parable of the wedding banquet tells us - the Lord wants his Church full.  To be in the Church is the right place - if one is improperly dressed (formed) that can be corrected.  It is God who calls.