Russia, Putin and the Homosexual lobby

Whatever, therefore, is opposed to virtue and truth may not rightly be brought temptingly before the eye of man, much less sanctioned by the favor and protection of the law. 

(Pope  Leo XIII)

Russia - vile, evil, diabolical! So the media would have us believe. And why so? Perhaps the Russian occupation of the Caucuses; war crimes in Chechnya? Russification in the Ukraine etc...?

No. The great Russian "sin" is the Duma passing legislation that bans "homosexual propaganda" amongst minors, leading to a cacophonous uproar amongst international homosexualists. Now, two points: firstly, this is actually old news, in the sense that the Petersburg municipal authorities passed this quite a while ago - hence, the question: is the uproar a bit more than the legislation moving to a federal level?

Another point that is quite telling: there exists no English translation of the law (outside of a few homosexualist sites - I am looking for a translation that does not take the side of "gay rights activists"). If one is going to talk about something, it behoves to us to know precisely what we are talking about. From my understanding, the Russian Bill deals with targeting minors.... if this be so, it seems very, very reasonable. As we will see, that even had the bill applied to all Society, it would be totally acceptable.

Again, we also need to ask why now: what is the purpose for this sudden campaign against Russia? Do not take me for a fool: a brief search of the web will find the naive who speaks of Putin as a defender of Christianity; Russia, Ukraine and Belarus working together... this is fantasy. Ukraine is being Russified under Yanukievich. Belarus, under Lukashnko - and dominated by Russia - functions as an authoritarian state with hankerings for Stalinism. In that same country, the home of the psychopathic Cheka founder, Feliks Dzierzynski, has been designated a museum. 

Pope John Paul II with children

The acid test on the Russian law is the perspective of the Catholic Church. That is, is the Russian law in conformity with human rights, the Church being the Voice of Christ and as a result the "expert in humanity". "A well-spent life is the only way to heaven, whither all are bound, and on this account the State is acting against the laws and dictates of nature whenever it permits the license of opinion and of action to lead minds astray from truth and souls away from the practice of virtue. To exclude the Church, founded by God Himself, from life, from laws, from the education of youth, from domestic society is a grave and fatal error. A State from which religion is banished can never be well regulated; and already perhaps more than is desirable is known of the nature and tendency of the so-called civil philosophy of life and morals. The Church of Christ is the true and sole teacher of virtue and guardian of morals" (Leo XIII, Immortale Dei).

As such, a constant Catholic principle is that nothing that is contrary to truth has any right for public propagation; freedom - true liberty - is a power that perfects the person. In his last book, Memory and Identity, Pope John Paul II warned: "if freedom ceases to be linked with truth and begins to make truth dependent of freedom, it sets the premises for dangerous moral consequences..."(p. 47).  Homosexual activity must be viewed from the perspective of the truth of the person. On the point of advocating - not even homosexual "marriage", - but "unions", the late Holy Father wrote of this as a "grave violation of God's law" (p. 12), and that this and the attempted legalization of the adoption of children by those in homosexual "unions" as "the work of another ideology of evil, more subtle and hidden, perhaps, intent upon exploiting human rights themselves against man and the family" (p.13). 

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has clearly outlined the human rights of the homosexual person; simply, homosexual person have exactly the same rights as any other person: they do not have special rights by virtue of a specific action e.g. homosexual activity. Nor does anyone else for any other mode of acting. The Church does not fall into the error of equating acting with being. The Church denotes that all people are children of God - ALL people -be reason of their being. However, ALL people - conform or denigrate their dignity by their actions. An adulterer, a fornicator, a murderer, a thief, a practicing homosexual is, and always will be a child of God: but each and every one of these people through their actions turns from their dignity as a child of God, and through evil actions becomes a sinner. Sinners are called to repentance. As the CDF underscores: homosexual persons may not be treated in any manner that offends their personal dignity; but this does not mean that the Church ceases proclaiming the truth about sexuality. 

  10. “Sexual orientation” does not constitute a quality comparable to race, ethnic background, etc. in respect to non-discrimination. Unlike these, homosexual orientation is an objective disorder (cf. Letter, no. 3) and evokes moral concern     

12. Homosexual persons, as human persons, have the same rights as all persons including the right of not being treated in a manner which offends their personal dignity (cf. no. 10). 

14. The “sexual orientation” of a person is not comparable to race, sex, age, etc. also for another reason than that given above which warrants attention. An individual's sexual orientation is generally not known to others unless he publicly identifies himself as having this orientation or unless some overt behavior manifests it. As a rule, the majority of homosexually oriented persons who seek to lead chaste lives do not publicize their sexual orientation. Hence the problem of discrimination in terms of employment, housing, etc., does not usually arise.

Homosexual persons who assert their homosexuality tend to be precisely those who judge homosexual behavior or lifestyle to be “either completely harmless, if not an entirely good thing” (cf. no. 3), and hence worthy of public approval. It is from this quarter that one is more likely to find those who seek to “manipulate the Church by gaining the often well-intentioned support of her pastors with a view to changing civil statutes and laws” (cf. no. 5), those who use the tactic of protesting that “any and all criticism of or reservations about homosexual people... are simply diverse forms of unjust discrimination” (cf. no. 9).

Therefore, as an ideology of evil, homosexualism has no right to propagate itself - for minors, or, for that matter, for anyone else. Morality is not contingent on time or age, it is contingent on truth. Pope Leo XIII wrote: "...the Church cannot approve of that liberty which begets a contempt of the most sacred laws of God, and casts off the obedience due to lawful authority, for this is not liberty so much as license, and is most correctly styled by St. Augustine the "liberty of self-ruin," and by the Apostle St. Peter the "cloak of malice." Indeed, since it is opposed to reason, it is a true slavery, "for whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin." Truth is that which is, not what I make it. Cardinal Wuerl has just provided us with an excellent review of the Church's position on sexuality. 

Recommended reading: "For she was gay, as gay as gay could be... , Fr. Paul Nicholson