Hi Bob, I read the LGBT paper.  Thanks for all the scholarly work you put into it.  I think you are dead on target with your analysis and the conclusions you draw.   The difficulty with good exegesis isn’t the scholarship or the scholar.  It is, first, the refusal of the magisterium to be honest enough to accept the truth that the analysis reveals. And second to present the evidence in a clear and simple way, so that those of us who are philologically and philosophically challenged can grasp it.The sociological dynamics and theological underpinnings that have created and sustained anti-homosexual bias have done all too good a job. Add to this the insidious undercurrent of anti-erotic influences and we have the mess that is rending the fabric of the church. I think that the real perversion that is at work in society and the church is the unhealthy denial and repression of healthy erotic energy.  It is not original on my part to suggest that much of the abuse of power and desire to control and manipulate as well as the narcissistic clericalism that is reasserting itself in seminaries is displaced and unhealthy erotic energy.  I know that this is not uniquely a problem of the the RC Church.  It is just more immediately present when you have chosen to live in that culture. The problem for those who are trying to become more honest about their sexuality and recognize their erotic and affective facets is that they become a threat to the power-based structures of the church and society. Michael Crosby, OFM cap. did an excellent work on this in his book THE DYSFUCTIONAL CHURCH.  Unfortunately that book is no longer in print.Working with the LGBT community has been challenging, painful, enlightening, insight producing, and ultimately gratifying.  It has also brought into high relief the sin of spiritual abuse that the churches have committed against this minority.  My constant hope is that I can help my sisters and brothers to break out of these abusive relationships and claim the dignity and spiritual heritage that is theirs. There is much that is of great value and richness in the church.  There is, as well, as much that is false sick and sinful.  The challenge to those I am committed to serve is to separate the life- giving from the life-taking elements in conflict and have the courage to stand up for the life-giving Spirit. Wishing you the blessing of Christmas and for the New Year. Tom      ____________________________________________________________________________________

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