Same-Sex Attraction, 'the Devil Made Me Do It,' and Getting a Grip

Daniel Avila used to be an adviser to the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. He's resigned, and the bishops accepted his resignation.¹

Before giving my take on the flap over same-sex attraction, Satan, and American culture, I'd better make a few points:

• I've got the authority of "some guy with a blog"
  • I don't speak for the Church
• The last I heard, there isn't a consensus opinion on why some folks are sexually attracted to
  • People of the same sex
  • Animals
  • A pillow

"A pillow?!" I'm not making that up. I've discussed an American legal/cultural issue, and a fellow who married an animated pillow:

• "California, Same-Sex Marriage, and Some Guy in Korea"
  (August 7, 2010)

'The Devil Made Me Do It'

I think that Daniel Avila's assertion that Satan is at the root of same-sex attraction is interesting. I also think debating how many angels could dance on the head of a pin is interesting.

But "interesting" doesn't mean "important." Or "sensible."

Particularly when a topic that's got so many folks so emotionally worked up is involved. As I've said before, emotions and reason don't play well together.²

Make that "topics." Avila's op-ed combined same-sex attraction and Satan. Both are real: but there are so many cockeyed assumptions and unconsidered beliefs associated with both, that combining the two is a little like tossing a lighted match onto an open pool of gasoline.

Right now, one of the things America does not need is hotheads from the wacky end of both the secular and religious subcultures to get the idea that folks with homosexual inclinations are supposed to be "Satanic."

That's worse, I think, than the daft "the Devil made me do it" excuse that inspired a few gags, back in my 'good old days.'

Hate, Love, and Getting a Grip

I put a very sketchy outline of what the Catholic Church has to say about the hornet's nest that Avila's op-ed stirred up, under Background, below.

As a Catholic, I'm not allowed to hate people. Any people. I must love people. All people. But, as I've said before, "love" isn't "approval."

Related posts:

• Hate
  • "Oslo, the Island of Utoya: and Living in a Big World"
    (July 23, 2011)
  • "Hating People? Not an Option"
    (December 9, 2010)
  • "The Manhattan Declaration: Hateful? - Who Knew?"
    (November 21, 2009)
  • "Three Killed in Tel Aviv Gay Youth Club: There's No Excuse"
    (August 1, 2009)
  • "Beach Killer Joseph Burgess: A Case of Horribly Warped Christianity"
    (July 24, 2009)
• Sex and religion
  • "Space Aliens, Michele Bachmann, and Daft Assumptions"
    (September 2, 2011)
  • "Hippies, Prudes, Catholics, and Sex"
    (August 30, 2011)
  • "No Open Season on Transgendered People, Please!"
    (April 26, 2011)
    Particularly
    • "Love" isn't "Approval"
    • Sex, People, and Rules
  • "Why State Definitions of Marriage Matter to This Catholic"
    (June 23, 2010)
  • "The Catholic Church and Homosexuals: Harsh and Soft, Judgmental and Understanding"
    (March 13, 2009)
• Getting a grip
  • "Apocalypse Whenever"
    (June 14, 2011)
  • "Japan, Good Taste, Common Sense, and a Duck"
    (March 15, 2011)
  • "Crowbar for Christ in Colorado?"
    (October 7, 2010)
  • "Some Catholic Blogs Bother Bishops - A Lot"
    (June 17, 2010)
  • "Haiti: Voodoo, Pat Robertson, and the Catholic Church"
    (January 16, 2010)

In the news:

• "Adviser resigns following column linking same-sex attraction with devil"
  Catholic News Service (November 4, 2011)

Background:

• Emotions
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1762-1775)
  • Are
    • Neither good nor evil by themselves
    • Good or evil require involve reason and the will
    • Must be governed by reason
      (Catechism, 1767)
  • Hating people is not allowed
    (Catechism, 1033)
• Homosexuality
  • Homosexual acts
    • Are not good
    • Cannot be condoned
      (Catechism, 2357)
  • People with homosexual tendencies
    • must be accepted with
      • Respect
      • Compassion
      • Sensitivity
    • "Are called to fulfill God's will in their lives"
    (Catechism, 2358-2359)
• Love
  • Love God, love your neighbor
    (Matthew 5:43-44; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-30; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1825)
    • Everybody is our neighbor
      (Matthew 5:43-44; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-30; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1825)
• Original Sin
  (Catechism, 388-390, 396-409)
• Satan and fallen angels
  (Catechism, 391-395)
  • Satan
    • Had a "disastrous influence"
      (Catechism, 394)
    • Seduced humanity
      (Catechism, 391-393)
    • "Is only a creature"
      • And therefore finite in power
      (Catechism, 395)
  (Not an exhaustive index)

---

¹ Excerpt from the news:

"Adviser resigns following column linking same-sex attraction with devil"
Catholic News Service (November 4, 2011)

"A policy adviser to the U.S. bishops has resigned following a controversy over an opinion piece he wrote suggesting that same-sex attraction could be the work of the devil.

"Daniel Avila, policy adviser for marriage and family to the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage since June 20, offered his resignation Nov. 4 and it was accepted, effective immediately.

"Avila's opinion piece was published in the Oct. 28 edition of The Pilot, Boston's archdiocesan newspaper. It also was posted online before being removed Nov. 2 and replaced with an apology by Avila who previously worked as associate director for policy and research at the Massachusetts Catholic Conference in Boston.

"Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese, told Catholic News Service the column was pulled because Avila 'retracted it and apologized and because it simply should not have been printed/published in The Pilot.'

"'It is not the position of the archdiocese or the church and is simply wrong,'" he said in a Nov. 3 email.

"Avila has written several columns for The Pilot during the past year and has been a contributor to the newspaper for at least seven years, according to Donilon. The most recent column, which generated reaction in the blogosphere was titled: 'Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction.'

"In the column, Avila attempted to answer the question about what causes same-sex attraction. He pointed to possible explanations such as 'random imbalances in maternal hormone levels' which he said could have 'disruptive prenatal effects on fetal development.'

"But he said Catholics need to look for spiritual answers to this question. And as he sees it, 'the ultimate responsibility, on a theological level, is and should be imputed to the evil one, not God,' he said. 'Applying this aspect of Catholic belief to interpret the scientific data makes more sense because it does not place God in the awkward position of blessing two mutually incompatible realities -- sexual difference and same-sex attraction.'

"In Avila's retraction and apology statement he said his column did not represent the position of the USCCB and was not authorized for publication. 'The teaching of sacred Scripture and of the Catechism of the Catholic Church make it clear that all persons are created in the image and likeness of God and have inviolable dignity. Likewise, the church proclaims the sanctity of marriage as the permanent, faithful, fruitful union of one man and one woman.'

"He continued: 'The church opposes, as I do too, all unjust discrimination and the violence against persons that unjust discrimination inspires. I deeply apologize for the hurt and confusion that this column has caused.'...

"...Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement: 'While the general population has debated whether it's nurture or nature that leads to a homosexual inclination, the church has not posed any theory in that regard.' "

²Emotion and reason don't play well together. At least partly because of the way our brains are wired:

• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, the War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
Particularly
• Emotion Trumping Reason: Not Limited to the War on Terror