The Question of Homosexuality and Religion

As I was watching some of the news coverage regarding the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, there were some of his quotations that scrolled along the bottom of the screen. The one that stuck out the most to me was his statement that homosexuality was "an intrinsic moral evil".

Having read that, I could not help but to have an initial disgust towards his remarks. Now I could have stayed with this initial reaction, but I found myself thinking about the fact that I was raised a Catholic and believed in it for many years. Now if I had continued with this faith, this man would now be my Pope, my spiritual leader. Having gone through that thought process, I really began to wonder how gay men and women reconcile their religious beliefs with who they are. I concede that not every religion has such a hostile view, but for those that do, how does one go about reconciling the two.

As I said, I was raised a Catholic and was a regular follower of the faith up until my late 20's. There was so much of the faith that I enjoyed and I really poured myself into it. Unfortunately at the time, I was in such denial about who I was that I never really thought about the church's position on homosexuality. When I finally began the acceptance process, I realized that the church and its beliefs were no longer relevant. Even more that not being relevant, their beliefs had caused me grief, guilt, shame and countless other negative emotions. I finally made the decision that I could not and would not put my belief into a church that thought that I was by my very nature evil or a sinner. I allowed that Catholic guilt to suppress me for too long. It was about this time, that I came to realize that I was a believer in spirituality and not religion. Thankfully, I now have a wonderful relationship with God. My faith empowers me as a gay man and no longer forces me to be ashamed or fear damnation. The faith I now carry in God was not one born overnight but was the culmination of a search into who I was and who God was. I admit that all this searching was difficult at times, but for me the rewards have been amazing.

So looking at this issue from my own perspective, I see that I had to give up my faith in Catholicism and rebel against who it wanted me to be rather than who I was born to be. I have been fortunate in the sense that through giving up my faith in religion, I have now found God. Go figure. But I also realize that not everyone is going to have the same experience that I had. For me the worst outcome during the attempt to reconcile the two would be the denial of God along with the denial of religion. Now that's just my opinion, but to me it would be a shame. I just see the positive effects my faith in God has had in my life and I hope for that same positive effect for everyone else. To me, God created spirituality and man created religion. For some that may be a bold statement, but for me that has become a part of what I believe. I wasn't able to reconcile my being a gay man with my being a Catholic.

Having shared my thoughts on the subject, I'm really curious to see if anyone else wishes to share their experiences or opinions on this matter. Have others been able to be a member of the Catholic church or a beleiver in another faith that shares similar views and be true to themselves? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

Thanks.