Over the last several weeks and months, most of the news agencies within the United States have reported on instances of intolerance and discrimination towards members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. One of the most devastating cases was the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi. After a video of him engaging in homosexual acts surfaced online, Tyler tragically decided to end his life by jumping from a bridge. The students who filmed the act without consent have been disciplined and charged with invasion of privacy, which in my opinion is lenient.

Many individuals are now questioning why others are so intolerant of homosexuals. Unfortunately, religious beliefs are usually marked as the leading cause. In regards to the Catholic Church, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Let’s take a look at some of the things the Church says about homosexuality.

• “Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex.

I usually don’t call for a major boycott of huge television networks, but watching Degrassi: The Boiling Point last night made me so angry that I am calling for a boycott of all MTV Networks. Let me explain.

I have been hearing a lot about the show Degrassi from quite a few young people and I thought that I would check it out to see what the show was all about. If you haven’t seen the show, it follows a group of high school students as they encounter all of life’s challenges. At first, I thought the show offered our young people a learning experience about overcoming the struggles that high school can bring. However, the show is confusing our young people and misguiding them in accepting immoral activity.

Degrassi, which is produced by MTV Networks, has shown acceptance towards teenage pre-marital sex, the use of contraception and abortion (to name a few).

In the latest show aired last evening, Jenna, a cheerleader, and her boyfriend K.C., football player, find out that they have a child on the way. When Jenna first talks to K.C., he tells her that they will get through this together. Jenna’s first thought of K.C. accepting responsibility for his actions is quickly thrown in the trash as K.C. says, “once you get the abortion it will all be over.”

Shortly after, Jenna tells her older brother about her pregnancy. Her brother takes her to the doctor where she finds out that she is 5 months along and the abortion would be considered a late-term abortion. The doctor tells Jenna that late-term abortions are risky and informs her of other options.

I was watching Nightline last night and saw Anne Rice being interviewed about why she has “quit” being Catholic. Here is the interview from ABC:

During the interview, Rice said that she cannot be part of a church that condemns homosexuals. With all due respect, the Catholic Church does not and has not ever condemned homosexuality; rather, the Catholic Church has condemned homosexual acts, declaring them intrinsically disordered. This is just another example of someone wanting the Church to conform to their personal beliefs when it should be the other way around; we should conform our beliefs to that of the teachings of the Church.

In response to a federal judge’s decision to overturn Proposition 8, Francis Cardinal George, current President of the USCCB, has released the following statement:

Source: LA Times

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, decried the August 4 decision of a federal judge to overturn California voters’ 2008 initiative that protected marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

“Marriage between a man and a woman is the bedrock of any society. The misuse of law to change the nature of marriage undermines the common good,” Cardinal George said. “It is tragic that a federal judge would overturn the clear and expressed will of the people in their support for the institution of marriage. No court of civil law has the authority to reach into areas of human experience that nature itself has defined.”

Joining Cardinal George in his criticism of the court decision was Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. Archbishop Kurtz noted that “Citizens of this nation have uniformly voted to uphold the understanding of marriage as a union of one man and one woman in every jurisdiction where the issue has been on the ballot. This understanding is neither irrational nor unlawful,” he said. “Marriage is more fundamental and essential to the well being of society than perhaps any other institution. It is simply unimaginable that the court could now claim a conflict between marriage and the Constitution.”

More to come. As always, stay tuned.

Source: USCCB

This afternoon, a federal judge in California overturned the voter approved Proposition 8 that banned gay marriage in the state. This is a major setback for efforts to support the traditional family. Below is a snippet from an Associate Press article on MSNBC.

Source: The Christian Post

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision to overturn the voter-approved ban, known as Proposition 8, came in response to a lawsuit brought by two same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco seeking to invalidate the law as an unlawful infringement on the civil rights of gay men and lesbians.

Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriages in California five months after the state Supreme Court legalized them, passed with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008 following the most expensive campaign on a social issue in U.S. history.

Attorneys on both sides have said an appeal was certain if Walker did not rule in their favor. The case would go first to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, then the Supreme Court if the high court justices agree to review it.

Anticipating such a scenario, lawyers for the coalition of religious and conservative groups that sponsored Proposition 8 in 2008 filed a legal brief Tuesday asking Walker to stay his decision if he overturns the ban so same-sex couples could not marry while an appeal was pending. (MSNBC | Associated Press)

The Bishops are likely to issue a statement on this setback. More on that when it is released.