San Francisco Archbishop Speaks of Proposition 8 Aftermath

In his article entitled “Moving forward together,” San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer seeks to replace hatred with logic and disrespect with amicable understanding. His article, while dealing with the aftermath of Proposition 8, also offers a commentary on some issues which we must all keep in mind, especially in current times.

In the article, Archbishop Niederauer asserts that “We need to stop hurling names like “bigot” and “pervert” at each other. And we need to stop it now.” He is absolutely right. However, contrary to what some may believe, my comments on this are not related to how the gay community views Christians. They are targeted at how Christians view the gay community. Now, don’t misunderstand me. The gay community has to stop blissfully following the delusion that Christians are trying to destroy their freedom of expression and infringe upon their civil rights. This is not true. However, as said in the article, “Tolerance, respect, and trust are always two-way streets.” On many occasions, Christians fail to treat their brothers and sisters in the gay community with ample respect. The Catholic Church believes that homosexuals should be treated with respect and care. They are entitled to the same basic human rights as you and me. However, in a fervor of ardent emotions, many Christians give themselves a bad name. Through their vacuous actions, they destroy the cause which they are so determined to advocate. How do they do this? By using emotion instead of logic in their attempt to communicate with the gay community.

So, let us take a quick look at some methods which do not work for those who seek to communicate with the gay community. Here are two that instantly come to mind.

1. Standing outside of funerals for deceased members of the gay community and shouting slogans like “You will burn in hell.”

2. Calling homosexuals “faggots,” “perverts,” or any other disparaging terms.

Perhaps if people tried to engage in productive, intelligence, and mutually respectful dialogue with the gay community, we would see more progress, less confusion, and a reduced amount of hate. The frustrating aspect to this situation is that there are probably many Christian intellectuals who would like to engage in such dialogue with the gay community. However, their efforts are stifled by the aforementioned ignoramuses and their misguided efforts to yell, scream, and hold up signs. In this aspect, we must implore the Christian community and the gay community to be more understanding. We are all God’s children created in his image.

The other idea expressed in the Archbishop’s article which I believe is of great importance is that we can not divorce our faith from the public square. If we honestly believe that our faith is the Truth, than to exclude it from the public square would be to lie to our fellow citizens. Rather, our public square life and our life of faith to God should be harmonious. We should work to promote the Truth in the public square, not to avoid it.

I thank San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer for his article. It contains logical and valuable advice that both sides of the Proposition 8 argument would do well to heed. Let us remember that we must be respectful to our neighbors who are created in the image of God while we pray for the conversion of sinners.