Tuesday 18 February 2014

Fighting on the Enemy's Terms



Kudos to Caroline Farrow for entering the bear pit on BBC World Service. Catholic Voices faces an unenviable task in communicating the Church's position on same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom and in taking on the ire of the gay community and its huge political as well as financial muscle. No wonder you'll never see a Bishop on telly defending Catholic teaching in this area.

You will see, in Caroline's epic joust with a gentleman on the BBC on the issue of homophobia how those now in the ascendency can justly feel that victory is close, or even already theirs in the public debate on 'same-sex marriage'. I hope Caroline, since this is not a criticism of her, will not feel offended if I make a couple of suggestions for the Catholic Voices team.

Why we are losing the battle...

Firstly, we have a huge problem here that is based in the political gay lobby's previous victories in terms of public discourse. They are winning? Why, when truth is not on their side? The issue at stake here is 'same sex marriage', right? Or is it? Is the issue 'homophobia' or 'homophobia' and opposition to 'same-sex marriage' and the link between the two? Is it not obvious that the political gay lobby has opponents of SSM by the short and curlies now because opposition to it can be painted as 'homophobia'?

SSM arguments are based solely in emotive propaganda
In the heat of the battle it is all too easy to forget where we are and why we are losing. We are now discussing 'same-sex marriage' on the terms of the political gay community - that is - their turf, their language and built upon solid victories the lobby has already won in the public imagination, which means we have to apologise for the Church's stated position on homosexuality. This means that for 'media purposes' we have to propose a presentation of the Church's position on homosexuality which is inoffensive, when, in actual fact, it is deeply offensive to those who see nothing wrong with homosexuality either as a condition in the first instance that afflicts individuals or as a practice these individuals engage in.

How can this be, when the truth is not on their side? Because they have, through previous victories, convinced people, though certainly not all, that truth is on their side. What is their 'truth' so powerful that Catholics now fear causing offense to this community and to their powerful friends in high places? Their truth is founded upon a lie, repeated over and over and over again that becomes so emotive and powerful that opposition to it melts or crumbles. What is this lie? The lie is that such a thing as 'homophobia' should be the grounds upon which men and women lose the right to freedom of thought and speech.

Homophobia and Thoughtcrime

We are playing on the enemy's terms already conceding that they have won because Thoughtcrime and Speechcrime are now hallmarks of the 'liberal' society! The political gay lobby do not respect even intelligent and forthright Catholic speakers and apologists because we accept that 'homophobia' is intolerable. No previous society has accepted this 'fear of homosexuality' to be a crime or something to be punished. The opposite is in fact the case, because previously in British society, the practice of homosexuality was thought to be dangerous to that society. People still wonder whether the toleration of homosexuality is dangerous? Well, how wise they were, our forebears, since it is the acceptance of the criminalisation of the perfectly natural and ordinary thought of British men and women that has led directly to the year 2014 when marriage is to be redefined.

If Catholic Voices wants to effectively build a 'culture of encounter' or a 'dialogue' with the modern British man and woman, it has somehow to play on the Catholic Church's terms, not that of the World, otherwise there will be nothing for the World to clash with. If the truth is not released, there is no real battle. Of course, speaking the truth will make you hated, pilloried, or even arrested for speech or thoughtcrime, but if it is not released then there will be nothing for the World to clash against.

The Facts

Fact 1: There is no undeniable evidence that, outside of the metropolitan regions of the UK, everyone is 'okay' with homosexuality. What are we saying to these people who hold perfectly reasonable and natural prejudices against those who engage in homosexuality or who disagree with homosexuality in general? We are saying, 'you are wrong', when actually, even if they often lack charity towards homosexuals, they are right.

Fact 2: The Church's teaching states, categorically, that no unjust discrimination is to be shown to the homosexual, so we have nothing to apologise for, with regard to our moral position. We are not calling for homosexuals to be rounded up and shot and can never condone any violence or even unjust discrimination against homosexuals. We are calling active homosexuals to repentance.

Fact 3: The Church's teaching states, categorically, that homosexuality is an instrinsic moral disorder. Oh and we are so embarrassed about it. Why? Because we are afraid of offending people? Because the World will laugh at us? Because we are not sure we believe it? Every previous society but ours has seen it as being such, yet we accept that homosexuality is 'normal' and 'natural'? No. I'm sorry, but that is not the Church's position on paper. The Church's position on paper is that it is not normal and it is not natural. That might be deeply offensive, but you have to let the truth fly otherwise nobody - not even the nicest atheist will respect you because you refuse to hold onto your moral principles which fly in the face of the World's reasoning.

Fact 4: The homosexuals involved in the political gay lobby are only in a position of power and ascendency because they have won every public debate on the lie that 'homophobia' (a) objectively exists (it was a term created in the 1960s by psychologists who only years before deemed homosexuality to be a mental 'illness') and b) is evil. It would certainly be evil to discriminate against a homosexual person simply on the grounds of his condition for the vast majority of forms of employment. However, it is not 'evil' to assert that homosexuality and especially the practice of homosexuality endangers every society that tolerates it - and that is exactly why we are where we are now, in the year 2014, with advocates of 'same-sex marriage'.

Facing rejection and facing it without 'phobia'

I have no doubt that for speaking the truth unapologetically Catholic Voices and any Bishop, Cardinal, or Archbishop-Cardinal Elect would be roundly:

a) Laughed at
b) Jeered at
c) 'Crucified' by the media
d) Possibly arrested
e) Possibly fined
f) Dropped by all media companies
g) Be the cause of many complaints
h) Ridiculed
i) Despised

The list goes on and on. Well, so those who follow Jesus Christ should expect, since He promised those who followed Him and who spoke the Truth out of charity and in charity, would face exactly this. We now live under the assumption that we have to be incredibly careful what we say otherwise we could cause deep offense to people. Meanwhile, our enemies do not respect us since we are not a true rival and those who might be our friends never get to hear the full truth which may, if it were released, win their agreement because frankly, with the gay lobby, things have gone "far too far" and "enough is enough".

Simply by shielding people from the truth, we deprive the most vicious old queen from despising us and wanting to kill us and deprive those whose natural inclinations and natural beliefs are in agreement with ours, the opportunity to draw closer to the only institution on Earth that agrees with them on paper, for there exists outside of the metropolitan areas of the UK, vast swathes of British people who are indeed our natural 'constituency' and who, if you talk to them, 'don't really agree with that type of thing'.

Why remain silent when the silent majority is really on your side? Do we really think G.K Chesterton, or George Orwell indeed, would accept the charge of 'homophobia' if he vigorously disagreed with homosexuality, let alone the absurdity of 'gay marriage'? The gay lobby are winning because nobody dares to contradict their propaganda based not on logic, or reason but powerful emotive propaganda. The day someone does so convincingly will be the day they may not 'lose', but the day in which you challenge the entire ground upon which rests their shaky argument and British people respect you because you are sincere in telling the truth - a truth that many secretly agree with because they believe, at least in this respect, in the natural law.

21 comments:

Newefpastoremeritus said...

Thank you. Excellent post, imho.

Marge Butchers said...

This is interesting and a good synthesis of the nature/nurture debate:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26089486

Incidentally, homosexuality was removed from the DSM (as a mental illness) because there was no scientific evidence to uphold such a position.

Peter Norman said...

I don't hear much charity in the 'truth' about homosexuality that many trad catholics advocate. In fact they appear to go out of their way to exaggerate differences, misinterpret the scientific/sociological evidence base and offend people. The nuance of unjust discrimination is often used as a cloak to justify any discrimination including violent acts by vigilante groups as is currently happening in rusia and the Ukraine etc.

The Bones said...

Marge. Not my point, my point is it was a made up term which recategorised opposition to homosexuality in the framework of a mental illness based on zero scientific evidence.

PN. I agree in part. The simple fact is that the CCC does not condone violence against individuals for any reason and that in no circumstance can violence against persons be defended - be he 'gay' or 'straight'.

We don't have to invent a new law for the homosexuals. We defend the dignity of ALL.

The Catrist said...

Marge Butchers: it is widely acknowledged that homosexuality is comorbid with an increased risk of depression, self-harm and suicide.That is fact. Sadly the only explanation which is given, is that the causal link is homophobia. How long will the psychiatric profession continue to tow this line? How long, after homosexuality is completely integrated into our society, will the charge of homophobia and prejudice be used to explain their ills? When WILL science begin to look objectively at such a condition?

I do not doubt the diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder will soon be eiminated in DSM-V and ICD-11, to pave the way for further gender reassignment surgery (using tax payers money).

How can the scientific evidence of XY and XX chromosomes, and the physical necessity of heterosexual mating for children (the very foundation of marriage) be up for debate? Laurence is absolutely right: there is no logic behind society's obsession with homosexuality, beyond a minority pressure group who manipulate statistics to overestimate their prevalence, importance, and validity.

The sad thing is the way society assume any opposition to gay marriage is simply religious, from a narrow view of reading the bible. All emotive, with no logic.

The Sire.

Lynda said...

The truth of human marriage and sexuality is knowable by objective reason. A society which denies such fundamental truths about man and marriage and family is destroying itself. These lies about perversions of sexuality are being forced by a powerful elite that wants to see the population reduced to a tiny compliant percentage of what it is now.

Fred said...

Surely it's not homophobia that is at issue, but the notion that there is such a thing as homosexuality? We say that so and so is a taxi driver because he drives a taxi. But being a person who drives a taxi does not mean that it is an intrinsic property of that person. Tomorrow he could drive a bus. Because a person can't even imagine finding a person of the opposite sex sexually attractive today doesn't mean that he - or she - couldn't undergo some cataclysmic event such that the next day the situation is completely reversed. No, we lost the battle when we accepted the false doctrine that there is such a thing as sexual identity. God created them male and female, to be sure. But he did not create them gay or straight. 54

The Bones said...

Fred.

That is a point to raise but we also accept that it is a fallen world, inhabited by creatures wounded by original sin.

Fred said...

Well yes, it is an intrinsic property of being human that we are fallen. But it is not an intrinsic property of being human that we are inclined one way or the other. Being wounded by original sin is something we get from Adam. Our proclivities we get from the world. We can't make Adam refuse the apple but we can refuse it for ourselves. We can recognise the apple for what it is: a temptation. We can acknowledge that we are susceptible to temptation. But resisting temptation is not the same as refusing to be 'me'. I like smoking A LOT. I could not easily give up. But just because I crave cigarettes day and night does not make my disposition to smoke an intrinsic property of being Fred. It's a fact about me, a property of Fred if you like, but I wouldn't stop being Fred if - deo voluntas - my craving were lifted.

The Bones said...

True but because sexuality is a powerful part of human nature, if that nature is wounded, that is what makes the homosexual label so powerful and irresistable to so many. I am not agreeing with it, but that is the force of it, to fail to distinguish between our sexuality and our identity. We often blur the lines because of our weak, fallen nature.

The Bones said...

*wounded in this particular way, that is.

Fred said...

Actually, the very notion of sexuality is bogus. A stratagem of the Enemy. Yes the sex drive is very strong, but again it's not an intrinsic property of Fred that he gets aroused every time he sees [...] It's an intrinsic property of being human that he is assailed with lustful thoughts, but being assailed with lustful thoughts does not make my arousal at seeing [...] an intrinsic property of being me. Tomorrow I might get turned on by [!!!].

Lynda said...

Of course, God did not create anyone with a disordered desire. God did not create anyone with a desire to go against nature. There is no such thing as "a homosexual" but rather a person who asserts that he has a recurrent desire for sexual relations with a person or persons of the same sex. If a person chooses to identify himself by this desire, that is a decision he is free to make - showing it is not intrinsic to the person.

Our Lady of Good Success-pray for us. said...

Well, good luck getting the new church to speak with logic and reason on this. in that Vatican Survey they used the word 'theory' to describe 'natural'.

Anonymous said...

Please listen to Father Dominic Allain on EWTN a learned and true priest.

Nicolas Bellord said...

What struck me about this debate was that nobody considered the question of how one can be against something that does not exist? There is no such thing as gay marriage. There is something called friendship where the sex of the participants is of no consequence but there is no such thing as a marriage between two people of the same sex.

Scott W. said...

I don't hear much charity in the 'truth' about homosexuality that many trad catholics advocate.

Well, obviously lying is sinful, but I would need a concrete example of a "trad Catholic" having a unacceptable dearth of charity to comment further.

The Catrist said...

A great number of "trad Catholics" ARE gay. Perhaps it's the attraction of embroidery and lace.

Peter Norman said...

Scott W = just read a lot of rad and/or trad catholic blogs!

Tina said...

Viterbo - natural law is a theory so describing it that way is entirely accurate, precise and correct.

Our Lady of Good Success-pray for us. said...

Tina - philosophucool rubbish aside - you are kidding right? nature that rose up against Adam when he sinned is Really theory? well than call me Steve and here's my hubby Adam and my significant other the Serpent.

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