Liberal Catholic group petitions against Bremerton priest’s anti-gay letter

[rug]

Posted by Joel Connelly on May 31, 2013 at 3:45 pm

A liberal national group, Catholics United, is launching a petition drive in response to an anti-gay letter in which a Bremerton pastor announced he was pulling his parish out of the Boy Scouts and listed such possible reasons for sexual orientation as “Dislike of team sports” and “Lack of rough and tumble play.”

Catholics United is organizing an online petition, at www.Catholics-United.org/Boy Scouts asking Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain “to make the Church’s position on care for gay people clear to this priest.”

The Rev. Derek Lappe, of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, used characterizations far beyond official positions taken by the nation’s Catholic bishops, who have opposed same-sex marriage and homosexual conduct, while denouncing homophobia, the stereotyping of gays and lesbians, and social ostracism.

“This priest’s use of stereotypes to describe the cause of same-sex attraction is offensive and not in line with basic Catholic teachings,” said James Salt, executive director of Catholic United, and himself a former Eagle Scout.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/05/31/liberal-catholic-group-petitions-against-bremerton-priests-anti-gay-letter/

The letter:

http://starofthesea.net/index.php/our-parish/blog/626-fr-lappes-response-to-new-boy-scouts#

The petition:

http://www.catholics-united.org/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=22

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Here's the gay hating priest:

[IrishAyes]

3. He needs prayer

and a better education also. When people say such awful things, especially stupid things about gays not liking sports or rough-and-tumble play, I think of plenty of examples to the contrary and wish I could introduce him to them. HE wouldn't like going up against a few ballplayers I could name, for instance.

[radicalliberal]

7. Speaking of stereotypes . . .

. . . a Bremerton pastor . . . listed such possible reasons for sexual orientation as "Dislike of team sports" and "Lack of rough and tumble play."

. . . the equally wrong, flip side of this stereotype is that there must be something wrong with boys who either perform poorly at sports or simply have no interest in them, that they're supposedly deficient or inferior in some way. I was quite familiar with such social conditioning when I was a kid. (Forgive me for what I'm about to say, as I've said it before elsewhere: The "Righteous Gentile" Raoul Wallenberg was "guilty" of a "Dislike of team sports." Did that mean he was some kind of wimp?) Isn't it funny the way stereotypes work sometimes? You can target two different groups of people with the same negative stereotype! You can kill two birds with one stone, if you please. If some people could look beyond the stereotypes, they would be amazed at the diversity that is the reality of actual living human beings.

In recent years I've been amazed to see how physically rugged some gay guys are.

I agree with what you said about the pastor. I'd like to see the expression on his face if he ever met someone like Esera Tuaolo.



I'm sorry I didn't find this thread when it was fresh.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

8. I am straight and dislike team sports, basically because I am rather uncoordinated

My younger brother, who is gay, played baseball well enough that the pros took a serious look at him. Gosh, neither one of us fits his stereotype.

[IrishAyes]

2. Signed

Thanks for the post.

[rug]

4. Thanks for signing.

Looks like he's getting some opposition on the parish blog.

[No Vested Interest]

5. The articles supporting Fr. Lappe's opinion had dates

back to 1962, and the newest one was published in 1999.

Some may still be considered valid, but one has to wonder how many articles countering Fr. Lappe's conclusions
have been published, especially since the year 2000.

Is Fr. Lappe cherry-picking for the purpose of his argument?

[rug]

6. Good point. He's stuck in a time warp.

For all its faults, the Church has an ability to absorb new information, something he appears to lack.