Crumpled Notebook

I was just reading "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/23/wgay23.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/09/23/ixportal.html">
this article and found it pretty ridiculous. “The Roman
Catholic Church is preparing to bar homosexuals from becoming
priests even if they are celibate… .” My immediate reaction was,
“aren’t priest supposed to be celibate? who cares if they are gay?”
After reading the article, my reaction is still the same. Lets get
basic first. If you are a Christian, you believe that sin is sin,
right? And at least for me, I don’t believe that temptation is a
sin. It’s acting on the temptation that is the sin. After all,
Jesus was tempted ( "http://biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=4&version=31">Matthew
4:1-11) but we still hold him to be sinless. So is the sin in
homosexuality, having homosexual feelings, or acting upon it,
either physically or lustfully? I say it’s the act. We all struggle
with sin. Being gay is no more a sin than lying, stealing,
committing adultery, but these are all things we seem to be fine
with for the most part. Now if these priest were teaching that it
was okay, then I could see the problem since it goes against the
Christian religion. So I say, if a priest or a man (or woman)
struggles with homosexuality, and chooses to be celebate, isn’t
that what God would want? Paul even tells us it is good for man not
to marry ( "http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Cor%207;&version=31;">1
Cor 7:1), but that it is better for him to marry than to burn
with desire. So, lets look at a priest. Lets say, it’s better for
him not to marry and remain celebate. Now, if he lusts after men,
it should be the same as lusting after women…lust=sin whether it
is for a man or a woman. So, what is the difference? Does the Pope
plan on questioning all the candidates for priesthood about their
sexual desires? If so, I think we’re going to have a shortage of
priest. All I’m saying is that yes, I agree, homosexuality (the
act) is a sin. So are a lot of other things. But if those are
someone’s feelings, isn’t being celebate, not acting upon those
desires what God would want from us? To have enough love for Him to
sacrifice part of ourself? People do this everyday. They give up
pornography, addictions, sex, lying, being prideful, cussing, you
name it. Many people give these things up everyday in the name of
Jesus, so how is giving up this any different? I’d love some
comments on this one.

Ok, this article, ‘We Thought Frist Was One of Us’ - Christianity Today Magazine kind of bugs and annoys me. Read it, cause I plan on doing an entry about it later today. If you know me at all, you can probably figure out why it bugs me. But I have to get ready for church now.