You are Roman Catholic. You had a Roman Catholic upbringing. You took the sacraments, observed the Holy Days of Obligation, went to church on Sundays, had your first communion, went to confession, confessed your sins and observed all the Catholic traditions.
But what if one day you received a letter from your parish priest telling you that you can no longer take the communion because you’re gay and you advocated same-sex unions?
This is what happened to Leah Vader and her partner Lynne Huskinson. On March 1, Leah received a letter from Rev. Cliff Jacobson telling her that she is no longer allowed to take communion.
(Read full story here)
I was baptized Roman Catholic, I went to a Catholic grade school. I had confirmation, I took the communion, went to confession. Heck I was even an active member of the Catholic Charismatic Community. I attended Life in the Spirit Seminars and I was very active in Church. But that was a long time ago.
The Leah Vader incident is just one of the reasons why I left the Roman Catholic institution. I’m a spiritual person and it was very difficult for me to leave my church. I have stopped attending mass and no longer observe the Catholic traditions that I was so used to. Now, I’m not a member of any religious organization as I communicate directly with the Higher being.
Religion for me is but a man-made organization which makes you believe that their man-made rules are God’s rules. I have nothing against people who are members of religious institutions.
I’m just scared and worried for the gay community in this predominantly-Catholic nation. What if the one institution that they have always looked up to and have been loyal to shunned them? Of course they can go and find other Christian sects which do not discriminate. But it isn’t that easy.
Take away the one thing from where you used to rely on for hope. Take away the community you have learned to love. Take away your support groups. Take away the things you’ve always believed in.
If the Catholic Church continues with these kinds of discrimination amongst their members, then many people will most likely leave the Church.
Come to think about it, at the end of the day, religion will not save your soul. Faith will.
