G
od loves us all, and we are all going to Hell. When I talk with non-Catholics about sin, I'm always forgetting to emphasize this point. My non-Catholic friends are always drawing attention to the "hatred" of gay people that my religion apparently preaches, and asking strangely disinterested questions about which actions are supposed to be sins or not. The whole affair immediately takes on the aspect of a set of arbitrary rules, enforced by a cruel master, and taken up only by those for whom shouldering these rules happens to not be intolerably difficult. Which, rhetorically, is precisely the point of framing the conversations this way, whether my interlocutors know it or not. It is comforting for the Catholic faith to be a set of cruel and arbitrary laws, because such a faith can be easily rejected.
But the fact of the matter is that all, without exception, are sinners, all have fallen short of the glory of God. The important point is that even if a man does everything that the Catholic church teaches him, were it not for the blood of Christ, it would all be in vain. Following the law does not, cannot save us; only God can save us. He calls our sins what they are, and our righteousnesses what they are, and he loves us regardless of the "score" between the two -- but the choice to accept God's love and follow him is ours. Were it not for the Cross, we would all be damned.
The follower of Christ who hears the Law and obeys it is taking part in a symbolic dance, in which his acceptance of God's love is echoed in his actions, but his actions are insufficient; they merely represent the indwelling of Christ in his heart.
The Church gets accused of hating gays, a lot. Certainly, there are Christians who have a visceral hatred of homosexuality, as human beings are so, so prone to hatred. But naming homosexual action as a sin is not in and of itself hatred, it is diagnosis. I believe that everyday, orthodox Christians have to change their attitude toward those who are attracted to members of their same sex, without retreating from the judgement of homosexual action as sinful. In fact, I believe this transformation is slowly taking place. I'm not competent to declare on whether people have homosexual tendencies from birth, though it sure seems plausible to me. I think that this means that we need a very robust, fulfilling way for same-sex attracted people to have a place in the Church, that helps them to live the chastity to which we are all called. We are all damned, and all must walk in the shadow of the cross together. May God's love work in us all. Amen