Should Catholics Be Rejoicing at the Striking Down of Article 377? Yes and No

By Fr Joshan Rodrigues –

The LGBTQ community in India is rightly celebrating in India, with the Supreme Court slashing down Article 377, which branded homosexual acts as criminal. The LGBTQ community has been fighting this archaic British era law for many years. Coupled with the social stigma associated with homosexuality in India, this legal clampdown made life almost impossible and fearful for people with same-sex orientations. Now in light of this ruling, Catholics around the country may wonder what this means for us in light of Church teaching on homosexuality.

There is much misunderstanding among Catholics when it comes to understanding what the Church teaches on this issue. Many Catholics themselves believe that the Church is homophobic and condemns homosexuals. Many people have already put up links and messages on social media platforms, welcoming this decision and supporting free love.

As social mores in our country change, Catholics must understand the deeper ramifications of this issue in light of Church teaching, and what the church really says. Quite often, we hear what the Church says from non-church sources which greatly twist and confuse the real teaching of the church.

So what ‘does’ the Church say on homosexuality? Is the Church homophobic? NO! The Church is not against people with same-sex orientation. They are Children of God just like each one of us. They are invited to the Church and Sacraments just like each one of us, and the same rules apply to them as they do to us. Whether you are married or single, heterosexual or homosexual, priest or laity, black or white, rich or poor, we all have an equal dignity in the Body of Christ.

The Church too wants LGBTQs to be happy and experience love. There are many faithful Catholics with same-sex orientation who help in different ministries in our parishes. I have spoken to many such people in the confessional, where they’ve poured out their hearts and struggles. They have shared with me how they try to live as faithful and loving children of God everyday of their lives.

Having said this, now there are other aspects to this issue. Though same-sex acts should not be a crime, they are still sinful. It is fallacious to think that whatever is legally allowed should also be morally allowed. Abortion is another example.

Similarly, there are acts that may be immoral and as a consequence sinful, but not criminal in the eyes of the law. LGBTQ activists are already saying that their next goal is to legalise same-sex marriage and give LGBTQ couples the right to adopt children. This is where we need to be alert, because in many other countries, legalising homosexuality has slowly and eventually opened the doors to marriage and adoption.

Now though the Church does not condemn people with same-sex orientation, it does hold that same-sex marriage is immoral and sinful. Marriage must always be as nature ordered it, between a man and woman, as it is ordained to be, because it is only a man and woman who can naturally beget children and create the human family. Many Catholics themselves do not accept this. “Why shouldn’t they have a right to love and kids?” Is the common refrain. And this is understandable since we do not understand the full implications of this issue.

Though it would be impossible to give a detailed and complete analysis of this issue here, I hope that by raising a few points, people (esp. Catholics) are pushed towards giving this issue more thought and finding out more about it for themselves.

Why should people be defined by their sexual orientation? Is the fact that I am straight or heterosexual, the only feature by which I want to be known by? When we define peoples as LGBTQ, we reduce them to their sexual identity alone and ignore every other rich aspect of their personhood and their life.

What the Church opposes is opening up marriage to anything other than what it has been naturally ordered by God to be. And hence it is not just homosexuals but many others who cannot access the institution of marriage as I will illustrate a little later.

Secondly, this is not just about gay marriage. Traditional marriage is just one among the many strongholds that an aggressive post-modern secularism is trying to topple in its thirst for reshaping the future of humanity. The underlying narrative here is what is slowly coming to define modern society. And that is complete and unordered personal freedom. “I have the right to be happy in any which way I can. I have the right to do what I want with my life, to define my own existence in this world, and to be able to choose freely for myself.” Follow your own heart! Sound familiar?

The philosopher Charles Taylor describes this cultural mindset that has captured all of us in these words:

“Everyone has a right to develop their own form of life, grounded on their own sense of what is really important or of value. People are called to be true to themselves and to seek their own self-fulfilment. What this consists of, each must, determine for himself or herself. No one else can or try to dictate its content.”

To paraphrase this further in my own words, “each one must mind his/ her own business.”
In other words, we don’t want God to decide what is morally right or wrong. We will decide for ourselves. We don’t want to feel guilty about certain things, so we will take away the moral law that opposes it and replace it with our own law. So we will tell ourselves, “there is nothing wrong with abortion, or contraception, or watching pornography, or any type of consensual sex, etc.” So now we don’t have to feel guilty anymore. Remember the snake offering Eve the fruit and saying “Go ahead, there’s nothing wrong in eating a fruit.” Some stories never change.

Saying “yes” to this kind of personal freedom is devastating. Could you imagine what the results would be? We are opening the door to everything! It is a slippery slope. When we make ourselves the centre of the moral law, who is to decide what is right or wrong? Which man has the right or the authority to decide for another. Aren’t we all equal? So we will all decide for ourselves; we will all do whatever makes us happy. The result: We will have demolished the moral and ethical foundation of humanity. What is morally right will be henceforth decided by majority vote. There will be nothing objectively right or wrong. And once the foundation ceases to exist, the building will come toppling down.

So, if a married person feels there is no harm in having a fling ‘just for fun’, then it’s ok, as long as its consensual. If I want to have a baby produced in a test-tube, it’s ok. Forget about those who cannot conceive, we may decide one day in the future that it’s just not worth it to go through all that pain of child-birth. Let’s just outsource it! Let every old person have the right to take his/her own life when they feel they have lived their life. Let my children have the right to change their sex if they wish. Let’s try polygamous marriages. Let’s all live-in together. Why get married? If walking around in the ‘buff’ publicly makes someone happy, why should anyone object to it? The list goes on. If ‘happiness’ is at stake here, then should anyone be stopped from being happy, no matter what it takes? I wish we could give our children a free run! Let them do as they please. Why all the rules and regulations?

In a society where everyone is allowed to make their own moral rules, there is no morality. It’s a free for all. Lest someone mistakes this to be a rant against homosexuality, let us put one thing in perspective. To repeat myself, the Church is not against homosexuals; the Church is opposed to homosexual ‘marriages’. Every person, LGBTQ people included, is a child of God. All of us are made by the same Creator, and hence we are all brothers and sisters. Is being homosexual and Catholic contradictory? Not at all. An LGBTQ is as much a child of God as you and me.

So why can’t they get married? Because not everyone has a ‘right’ to marriage. Marriage has never been ‘equal’ for all. Loving a person doesn’t automatically give you a right to marry that person unless you fulfil the requirements designed to protect the goods for which that institution exists. Hence if you are a ‘minor’, then you cannot get married. You cannot marry a person who is already married. A catholic man or woman who takes religious vows cannot get married. A brother cannot marry his sister. A man who loves two women cannot marry both. A person with a psychological disorder cannot get married. Do you see? If everyone who loved each other was allowed to marry, what would happen?

Even same-sex marriage is not equal, even though its supporters proclaim it to be. It restricts marriage to two people, it does not allow same-sex relatives to marry. In other words, it does not open up marriage to all. In fact, same-sex marriage also discriminates against other people who want to get married.

Everyone doesn’t have a right to a driver’s license. You get one only if you fulfil certain criteria. Everyone doesn’t get any passport he/she wishes. Everyone doesn’t get to join the Army even though they may want to. Everyone doesn’t get to be a pilot even if they want to. You can’t even put your child in a school of your choice unless you fulfil the school’s requirements.

Marriage between a man and woman has been a natural institution that began way before religion or even the State existed. The Church recognises this natural state or order of marriage. In almost all cultures and ages, marriage has been seen as heterosexual, between a man and a woman (even if at times it has been polygamous), bringing them together for a life-long project of stability, security and for raising children for the future society. Neither the Church nor the State has the right to change the conjugal nature of marriage.

Hence, not opening up marriage for homosexuals is not discriminatory. Equality doesn’t mean equivalence. Equality doesn’t mean that you and I must have the exact same things to be equal or even happy. Government privileges for senior citizens is not discriminatory towards younger people. The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage is not because of religious reasons, but because of natural law. A sexual act between a same-sex couple is not generative. It cannot produce children. But marriage is by definition, an institutions that generates children. So if same-sex couples want to be together, call it whatever you want, but don’t call it ‘marriage’.

The Church (and by logic the State should too) doesn’t discriminate against homosexuals when it denies them marriage. Because marriage is not for everyone, as we have seen above. The Church doesn’t discriminate against gay people, but it respects the natural order of marriage. The Church cannot be silent when the interests of children and the common good of society are discarded under the false pretext of overcoming discrimination.

There are many other arguments that can be presented, but this article has already gone on for too long. In conclusion, there are many people belonging to the LGBTQ community who live faithful catholic lives, a chaste life in accordance with the will of God and their stories are yet to be told. I hope that as Catholics, we learn to see these issues in a deeper light. At this moment, we rejoice with our LGBTQ brothers and sisters who have been freed of this ‘criminal’ tag. But be careful before going the whole way and giving away your unconditional support. Support what is morally good, and condemn what is morally wrong. Hate the ‘sin’, but love the ‘sinner’, whatever his or her orientation may be.

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Fr Joshan Rodrigues is a priest for the Archdiocese of Bombay. He has recently concluded his Licentiate studies in Institutional and Church Communications in Rome and is now a Visiting Scholar at the Journalism School, University of Missouri-Columbia in the US. He frequently blogs on faith and culture in ‘Musings in Catholic Land‘