Here’s an article describing an attempt by members of the Catholic hierarchy to soften the Roman church’s stance on homosexual unions

I understand and respect their desire to acknowledge the underlying humanity of people who practice homosexuality (after all, gay people are no worse sinners than the rest of us).

The fundamental problem here is that you can’t have it both ways. No matter how much you “soften your language”, you are either going to run afoul of the Scripture or you are going to run afoul of the homosexual community, which doesn’t like to hear that their chosen lifestyle is condemned by it. There is no middle ground here.

People who engage in homosexual behavior are, like other sinners, deeply loved by God their creator. And without prejudice, Jesus our savior welcomes them to repent (turn away from everything the Bible calls sin) and to believe the Gospel (that Jesus paid the penalty for our sin and rose from the dead to make an opening for us into God’s kingdom).

Instead of dancing around the truth, why don’t the Catholics tell it like it is? I think I know the answer. Just like the NFL, they don’t want to appear to be “out of step” with the tide of moral relativism that has consumed our culture. I think the Pope likes the adulation of the masses, and the masses seem to have been swayed toward the acceptance of homosexuality as normative instead of perverse.

All other things being equal, I prefer never to offend anyone (including homosexuals), and I prefer not to be ostracized by anyone. But I must be first and foremost acceptable to God. And Jesus promised that in our quest to please God we would certainly, at times, offend people and be persecuted/ridiculed/ostracized by them. Just like there was no way of Jesus avoiding His cup of suffering, there is no way for us to avoid sharing in His sufferings if we want to share His glory.