Thursday, March 4, 2010

Cognitive Dissonance and Catholic Intellectual Gymnastics re: Marriage Rights

 

Michael Bindner writing about the decision of the D.C. archdiocese to drop new spouses of employees at Catholic Charities from health care coverage, in retaliation for D.C.'s decision to permit same-sex marriage:

Telling people their relationships are disordered begs the question of how we know the natural order on same sex marriage. It takes true intellectual gymnastics to continue to hold the traditional view. In the Church's premier text on Ethics, Fagothey's Right and Reason (which is used in Catholic minor seminary), the author had to rely on theism to prove that homosexuality was not within the confines of natural law - he could not do it on the merits alone.

"It takes true intellectual gymnastics": yes.  The church increasingly asks of faithful Catholics a cognitive dissonance that breaks mind and heart.

And that's too high a price to pay for remaining connected to a church that claims to be all about healing mind and heart.