Free will

So Pope Benedict is yet again sharing thoughts on gay marriage.

I'm certain this is what he will be remembered for. He was a bulldog against gay anything before becoming Pope, he remains so.

A few quotes for the tl&dr crew.

“People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given to them by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being,” he said. “They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves.”

“The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man’s fundamental choice where he himself is concerned,” he said.

“When freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God,” Benedict said.

Now to be a priest of the Catholic church, one must accept a life of celibacy. Priests are modeled after Jesus, who was never married. As it is a sin to have sex before marriage, it is therefore determined that Jesus never had sex. And so his priests are celibate. 

In Genesis, God tells Adam and Eve to "go, be fruitful and multiply". Ergo, have babies. Go have wanton sex and populate the world. Therefore, it is in humanity's nature to have sex. And lots of it. To be celibate is, therefore, to manipulate one's nature.

But all this is not a new argument  and let's face it, we'll be arguing with the Catholic Church about this until we are blue in the face. It will be a very long time from now before any of this becomes allowed. It is only recently that the church told its followers that gays are to be treated with compassion, you know, like your neighbour's two legged dog. 

No, my concern in these comments is summed up by the last quote I shared. I'll share it again.

“When freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God,” Benedict said.

Ah, here is where we come to the crux of it. We may have freedom of choice, but we really only have one right answer when it comes to any decision. What would God do?

We are made in God's image; and so we must strive to live our life as God intended. Married to our husband/wife, as many children as we've had sex, a white picket fence, wearing a hat on Sunday and eating fish on Friday. Anything that deviates from this are stemmed from decisions influenced by the devil.