By Sensei Adorador

Pope Francis once asked, “Who am I to judge gay people?” His current stand in regards to the LGBT community is a breakthrough for the church, as it has historically condemned homosexuality.
Christians who quote the Bible and use the writings to, in some sense, liken the “acts of gay people” as what had occurred in Sodom and Gomorrah; and concluding homosexuality is a sin, which is then followed by the word “abomination.”
If your understanding of homosexuality is still in the 19th century, you should use hermeneutics to reinterpret scripture.
Last week, I heard a student talking about their teacher discussing homosexuality being an abomination and, by the looks of the uniform, this person attends a prestigious Catholic school.
If we use the dictionary, the word abomination means “a thing that causes disgust or hatred.” As much as I wanted to know more about this teacher, I thought about why people condemn homosexuality as a sin. I am a Catholic and it saddens me to know people are stuck with archaic church teachers, which fans the flames of antagonizing homosexuality.
Going back to the quote from the Holy Father, who are we to judge? We don’t know their struggle and we don’t know their history. We also are not familiar with the pain they have experienced when coming out of the closet.
We religious people sometimes just tick off the boxes with what is virtuous, and the more fanatical we become, the most closed-minded we tend to be; however, if that is what the religion tells you, then it is setting boundaries and not understanding; which curtails general unity among people.
We must always emphasize the church rejects homosexual acts, but not the homosexual – acts are different from sexual orientation.
Teaching gender sensitivity must be nourished inside the four walls of the classroom. Schools are not breeding grounds for hatred; rather, they are an institution that carries the torch of respect for all people.
Teachers, who are considered the “sage of the stage,” must be equipped with respect, no matter how dogmatic that may be, and they must recognize it is wrong to antagonize freedom and equality.
According to Fr. James Martin, S.J., “We need to build a bridge between the church and the LGBT” and that homosexuals must be treated with “respect, compassion, and sensitivity.” There needs to be a proper dialogue with student regarding homosexuality – one without using the “A” word.
Paolo Freire emphasized in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “If the structure does not permit dialogue, the structure must be changed.”
Remember that Catholics often use the word “universal” – meaning to embrace all despite race, gender, nationality, and color – to all Catholics who consider homosexuality an abomination, it is time to reflect and contemplate the question: Are you a Catholic of just a nominal Catholic?”/WDJ