Catholic Church: Homosexuality Like Anorexia

[ccharles000]

Belgium has a new Archbishop, and he's not wasting any time in telling the world his thoughts about homosexuality. He's also not passing up an opportunity to offend half the world.

Speaking to his flock via Belgian television, Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard said that LGBT people and people suffering from anorexia have something in common: both are disordered.

"Homosexuality is not the same as normal sex in the same way that anorexia is not a normal appetite," the Archbishop said, showing both an immature understanding of human sexuality and of the biology behind eating disorders like anorexia.

The comparison has drawn fire from a number of civil rights groups, including the Belgium Centre for Equal Opportunities, a government organization that has the power to start legal proceedings if they think something crosses the line toward hate speech. None of these groups are calling the Archbishop's comments hateful just yet. But stupid? Yeah, they're all over that.

"When a comparison is made between homosexuality and anorexia, this suggests that homosexuality is a disease," the groups said. And they're right. The statement shows a pretty weak sense of compassion, and certainly isn't kind to LGBT people, or to folks suffering from anorexia.

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/catholic_church_homosexuality_like_anorexia

[dorkulon]

1. Actually, wouldn't abstinence be more like anorexia?

I mean, at least get the analogy right.

[Maru Kitteh]

2. Well. I heard femaleness is just like restless leg syndrome.

and youth is like amblyopia.

[mnhtnbb]

3. Eh. The Catholic Church has regressed all the way to the Inquisition.

They were wrong then on the science and they are wrong now on the science.

Amazing how nothing ever changes, isn't it?

[MineralMan]

4. MineralMan: Catholicism Like Gluttony.

[Joanne98]

5. Don't they think about anything but sex?

[GodlessBiker]

6. He is a walking cliche. What an asshole.

[slackmaster]

7. At least he didn't equate homosexuals to stray cats

:nuke:

[RedCappedBandit]

8. I am disgusted to have been raised catholic. nt

[Warpy]

12. I take it you left, too

I stomped off in sheer disgust before I got out of grammar school.

[YOY]

9. Well not to defend but one bishop is not the entire church.

They say stupid shit all the time...but his analogy is his and his alone.

[dorkulon]

13. Yeah, because the church has much more enlightened things to say on the subject.

:eyes:

[YOY]

14. Did you read my entire post?

I grew up Catholic and am a product of CAtholic School. What he said is not what they teach about Homosexuality.

They claimed (and this is laughable in and of itself) that being gay is not a sin...but the act of homosexual sex is a sin.

Of course unmarried hetero sex is also a sin...so go figure.

[dorkulon]

Yes, but it's a distinction without a difference.

The analogy is his; the sentiment belongs to the whole church.

[YOY]

16. Actually it's not. That's not the sentiment of the whole church or even official church teaching.

They don't think being gay is a sin. They think gay sex is a sin. They also think unmarried hetero sex is a sin. It's still laughable but it's not a comparison to anorexia or are there claims that it is 'curable'. That's fucked up evangelical territory.

This Bishop is just a strong island of crazy bs opinions.

I'm not Catholic anymore but I listened in Catholic School. Their version is laughable but the Bishop's stance is not the official Catholic stance.

[dorkulon]

18. I take your point, but it strikes as another non-difference.

You can be gay, as long as you never do anything gay? I think I'd rather be excommunicated than instructed to simply deny myself for life. As with the rule against masturbation, it flies in the face of realism.

Of course, I'm neither Catholic nor gay, so maybe I should leave it there.

[YOY]

22. Like I said. The official stance is still laughable....but the crazy Bishop's stance isn't it.

n.t.

[Warpy]

10. They used anorexia as proof of sainthood* not too long ago

but somehow I doubt the comparison they're trying to make is going to hold up well in that area.

*http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=3625041

[JBoy]

11. Catholic Church: Young boys are like potato chips.

Can't stop at just one.

[T Wolf]

15. Having good friends in Belgium, I know that "the church" does count the majority of

Belgians as members, but the people themselves do not really take Rome and its edicts too seriously.

They are about as "Catholic" (in the sense that Americans are) as I am Jewish - probably less so. No wonder so many of his audience walked out.

[alp227]

17. "both an immature understanding of human sexuality and of the biology behind eating disorders" BINGO

How this clown entered such a prestigious leadership position I will never know.

Yet another creative entry to the Retarded Right's attempt to smear homosexuality. Previously, it's been compared with...
- Bestiality
- Incest
- Polygamy
- Mental illnesses
- Misfit pipes

All these courtesy: Bill O'Reilly, Rick Santorum, and James Holsinger.

[DavidDvorkin]

19. Religion is like brain cancer.

[TexasObserver]

20. Listening to church leaders say things like that makes me want to purge.

And it's not because of the calories, since there are no calories in their Hater-Aid.

The Catholic Church is despicable, by any reasonable standard.

[bullwinkle428]

21. I love the idea of 65-year-old virgins attempting to educate the rest of us about sex!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

23. Your Excellency is like a stream of bat's piss. nt

[mnhtnbb]

24. Remove the "like" and you may have something!

:rofl: