Veritas Forum
Sarah Kate Lookabaugh, Catherine Connolly, & Ashley Burgess
Is the Catholic Church justified in their persecution of homosexuals?
Hozier's "Take me to Church" Music Video
Focuses on two men and how the community uses violence against them because of it
Taking a stand against homophobia and hate
Hozier, who isn’t gay, decided to address the cause in the video after witnessing what was going on with LGBT people in Russia as well as places like Uganda, where homosexuality can draw a life sentence.
- This is a problem in Nigeria, Russia, Uganda, the US as well as other countries around the world
Uganda
Punishment
Olympic Games - Sochi
Religious people/organizations have the constitutional right to:
- Label homosexuality a sin and condemn it in their churches.
- Refuse to perform gay marriages.
- Deny religious employment to any homosexual without worrying about discrimination lawsuits (ex. the government cannot force the Catholic Church to ordain a gay priest)
- Protest against homosexuals in a non-violent and orderly manner.
- Churches are justified in teaching what is a sin and what is not a sin within their belief system, including in the case of homosexuality. However, such teaching is used as the basis for harsh laws and attitudes against homosexuals, leading to abuse and discrimination against them.
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Side of the Catholic Church
Leviticus 20:13
"If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense." (NLT)
To have homosexual desires is not the sin but to act upon them is the sin itself.
The Church opposes same-sex unions
Based on Genesis 1:25–28: "God created man in his own image….male and female he created them… and God said, 'Be fruitful and multiply' " and Genesis 2:24, " a man shall be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Jesus himself uses these same quotation in Mark 10:6–9 when asked about marriage.
Homosexuality is harmful to society
So What:
The Catholic Church persecuting homosexuals is justifiable because being gay is a horrible sin in the Catholic eyes and putting them in jail helps better our society as a whole.
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Side Of Persecuted:
Violence against LGBT
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people can face violence motivated by their sexuality and gender identity.
- Violence may be executed by the state, as in laws prescribing corporal punishment for homosexual acts or by individuals engaging in intimidation, mobbing, assault, or lynching (see gay bashing, trans bashing).
- These actions may be motivated by homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and may be influenced by cultural, religious, or political biases.
(We are focusing on the religious biases found in our world today.)
What are Uganda and Russia's stance on LGBT rights?
- 2011: The United Nations Human Rights Council passed its first resolution recognizing LGBT rights, which was followed up with a report from the UN Human Rights Commission documenting violations of the rights of LGBT people, including hate crime, criminalization of homosexuality, and discrimination.
~UGANDA~
same sex sexual activity~
For Male's:
- illegal
- Penalty: Up to life imprisonment
For Female's:
- Illegal since 2000
- Penalty: Up to 7 years imprisonment
~RUSSIA~
same sex sexual activity:
- Legal since 1993
~UGANDA & RUSSIA~
absolutely no recognition of same sex relationships
same sex marriage: illegal
adoption by same sex couples: illegal
gays serving openly in the military: illegalHow did this violence and prejudice originate?
The prosecution of homosexuality as a general crime began in the 3rd century of the Christian era when male prostitution was banned by Philip the Arab. By the end of the 4th century, after the Roman Empire had come under Christian rule, passive homosexuality was punishable by burning and death. Under Justinian, all same-sex acts, passive or active, no matter who the partners, were declared contrary to nature and punishable by death.
Romans 3:23:
Sin:
- God forgives all sins and on Earth we compare our sins to every one else's and see them higher or lower than each other. In heaven, all sins are equal and the skyscrapers look the same from the birds eye view.
- Non-Religious perspective: On Earth, our mistakes are all compared to each other. If you murder someone that's the worst you can do, so you would have a higher skyscraper on Earth. If you tell a lie the skyscraper would be much lower, since lying isn't as bad as murder. If you look from the bird's eye view, all of the skyscraper look the exact same from the top, since they are all mistakes we have committed.
Final Thoughts
- Although homosexuality is against Catholicism, so are criminal acts. Therefore by beating and killing homosexuals, the Catholic Church are acting upon sinful acts themselves.