It's Not About Discrimination- It's About the Dignity of the Human Person

There's recently been a huge trend in the world of politics to amend and/or create legislation regarding religious freedom both on the state and federal level. It's been all over the news and most of the time it is portrayed as a same-sex attraction discrimination issue.

This is not about restricting people based on their sexual orientation. This is about preserving the liberty to love each person, who- since created in the image and likeness of God- is meant to live forever in union with Him in heaven. These institutions that are fighting for religious freedom, Catholic Schools, Catholic hospitals, etc- they are not fighting for the ability to discriminate against women (by refusing to provide them with contraception) or for the ability to discriminate against gay people (by not hiring them simply because of their sexual orientation). They are fighting to protect their freedom and as Pope St John Paul the Great- the man who spearheaded the victory over communism in Europe- reminds us "Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."

We ought to love each other enough to help one another to fulfill our purpose, to become the people we were created to be.

We ought to love each other enough to help one another get to heaven. 

That is why these institutions are fighting for religious freedom, because they are convicted about upholding their role to help their employees get to heaven. The Catholic Church believes that people with same-sex attraction, because they have been created in the image and likeness of God, have such profound, inherent dignity that they are worth more than the barren romantic relationships that some decide to pursue. 

In that same vein, the Catholic Church also believes that God's plan for human sexuality- specifically human fertility and a human person's capacity to be a co-creator with God- is a sacred gift, not merely something that must be suppressed when inconvenient. Pregnancy is not a disease that needs to be prevented. Rather, human fertility is something that must be understood and cherished and treated with great respect.

The institutions fighting for religious liberty are merely asking for this worldview to be accepted- not agreed with- but accepted and respected.

Not everyone agrees with this worldview, but that does not give the government the authority to discard it as garbage. 

Tolerance is, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, "the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with" 

"Follow Me"

Jesus calls each of us to be His disciple. He invites us by saying "Follow me"

In Mark 10:17-31 the Lord really showed me my options, because the Lord continues to invite me to follow Him. He says- I'm going to lead you this way now, follow me. Each day- each moment- I have a choice. In this passage in Mark, the Lord reminded me of what each choice leads to. 

The rich young man comes to Jesus asking what he must do the inherit eternal life, Jesus invites him to let go of- to abandon- everything and follow Him. The young man decides that it's not worth it, I imagine he thinks something along the lines of- I will continue to try to make it on my own. I don't trust this good teacher enough to abandon everything and follow him. He walks away from Jesus sad because he is not willing to let go of the things that he possesses, because he values being in control more than being close to Jesus.

Jesus' disciples though- as Peter says- they gave up everything and followed Him. When Jesus invited them to abandon their nets and follow him- they did. (Mark 1:18). Jesus reminds me that all I need in order to inherit eternal life is God. He asks me to abandon everything and follow Him. Trust Him. Abandon my plans, wants, desires-everything- to follow Him. He assures me though, "There is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mother and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come." Jesus says- you can trust me. He reminds me that He wants what is best for me. That it is only when I totally abandon myself to His will that I actually have the ability to choose what is best, rather than what I want- rather than what is easiest or most comfortable. 

In following Jesus, we gain everything and we don't actually lose anything- except control.