These are all certainly true, but how many Christians can actually explain why it is against nature? Why is homosexual "marriage" not a civil right? How are laws seeking to ban same-sex marriage different from the old laws banning interracial marriage? If homosexual sex (as well as contraceptive sex) is wrong because it is closed to life, why is it not wrong when an elderly couple has sex or a married, infertile couple?
In my experience, most Catholics are totally unprepared to offer an answer to these sorts of questions. And - unfortunately - many in the Church's hierarchy are very hesitant to speak too boldly on this subject. This is truly a shame; the Catholic faithful are in desperate need of a logical and easy to understand exposition of the Church's rationale for its position, something grounded in the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. Instead, they have been fed nonsense about "religious liberty" and First Amendment rights, trying to make this a Constitutional issue instead of a theological issue - and when the Supreme Court tossed out those Constitutional arguments on June 26th, those Catholics who had never been educated in any other argument against same sex marriage were left in the lurch.
Here are out first two videos in the series: the first on homosexuality and the Bible, the second on the ends of marriage. It is important to note that these videos do not attempt to merely present talking points, nor force the question into an artificial paradigm of "religious liberty" and the First Amendment, as some American Catholics have tried to do. Rather, they approach the subject from the point of view of Catholic Tradition, theology and natural law. These videos are not meant to convince opponents but rather help Christians better understand their own tradition.
These videos were totally funded by donations. We currently have three more videos like these in various phases of production, on homosexual marriage and civil rights, material cooperation in sinful activities, and the duties of the Christian state. If you would like to help donate to this project, you can do so by clicking below:
Please share these videos and contribute if you believe this project is timely and necessary. Deo gratias.
11 comments:
These are wonderful. Thank you.
Barbara
You americans and your t-shirt under a shirt...
I shake my head at the monitor.
Excellent videos. Succinct and highly informative. I especially appreciate your propositions by an intended interlocutor drawn from the many objections that most will hear swirling all around them in these desperate times. You led at the end of the second video to some interesting questions concerning fertility ( infertile, old age, etc.). But what about if a potential spouse knew ahead of time about an infertility issue. Would that be immoral to marry someone knowing full well that they would be unable to fulfill the procreative aspect of marriage that is a primary end? Many thanks.
Marriage's primary end is to create the organic environment which children require to develop and grow. It has NOTHING to do with love, which is why most marriages in history have been arranged. Love is nice to have, but it is an additional component that is entirely optional since it seems in many cases (as Hindu divorce statistics show), people who are married tend to come to love each other anyway.
Mark,
It is not true that love has NOTHING to do with marriage. "Husbands,love your wives as Christ loves the Church." I think what you mean is love has nothing to do with the validity or marriage; love is not necessary in the strict sense. But love is necessary for the happiness of marriage. Love is a special type of friendship; I agree that it often comes after the marriage is contracted and not before - that is grows out of the dutiful fulfillment of our marital obligations - but it would be wrong to say marriage has "nothing" to do with love.
Scott,
Even if a potential spouse knew ahead of time, permanent infertility does not invalidate marriage. No child actually has to be conceived nor does the couple even have to be fertile for the marital act to be ordered to procreation. The procreative end of marriage does not mean an actual child needs to be conceived or even that it is a real possibility - only that the acts that lead to procreation are capable of being performed unobstructed.
Now, if the couple could not even physically perform the marital act, that would be a different story.
Presuming you are European...
You Europeans with your odorous, sweaty chests exposed all the time.
Great videos, Boniface, clearing up the basics. It's sad that you have to reach out with these simple things, but people don't even have a foundation... They look very professional, seems you put down some effort. They deserve to be spread far and wide. Just please don't fall into the hole and became part of the whole apologetics industrial complex, as it has been called somewhere... Glad to see my money well-donated!
Not sure about the omnious intro music though, but it's better than the classical music some traditionalists feel have to be the intro and outro to their videos, shows... podcasts...
Man it is so difficult to find appropriate royalty free music for a subject like this. Heh heh.
And don't worry about the apologetics complex thing...Patheos is certainly mr knocking on my door. Anyone can make quality videos independently with a little skill and $$$.
Could you send a copy of these videos to all of the U.S. bishops and to the pope, cardinals, and the members of the Synod on the Family?
All of them seem to need to be re-converted to the true faith.
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