A parishioner asked if it was okay to get a tattoo since a verse in Leviticus forbids it. I explained that in Old Testament times pagan people had tattoos as a way of making a blood sacrifice to their pagan gods and signing their bodies as a way of showing their devotion to the demon gods.<\/p>\n
Really? You can see your way clear to okay tattoo\u2019s, and I\u2019m sure you don\u2019t oppose eating lobster, but you can\u2019t manage to put the Leviticus injunction against homosexuality, in the same historic trash can?\u00a0Hypocrisy, at it\u2019s finest. (And frankly, people would do just fine, without tats and shellfish. Without the love of another human? Not so much)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Alas, here\u2019s where the commenter shows his ignorance. He assumes that Catholics are Bible only Christians. If so, then he is right. If we believe the Bible is the ironclad, word for word, Word of God, then we must follow all the Bible rules down to the letter and not eat oysters or lobsters or crawfish gumbo. No pork chops, pulled pork sandwiches, BLT or hey\u2013not football since a football is made from pigskin and Leviticus forbids touching the carcass of a pig.<\/p>\n
But Catholics are not Bible only Christians and never have been. We have always interpreted the Bible and applied it to the current age.<\/p>\n
Believe it or not we have actually thought it through.<\/p>\n
The dietary prohibitions in the OT were dealt with early on. In the Acts of the Apostles St Peter the first pope dealt with it. He was given a vision of a sheet full of unclean animals and the spirit said, \u201cGo ahead and eat.\u201d Even before that Jesus said, \u201cIt is what comes out of a man that defiles him not what goes in\u2026\u201d and St Mark interprets and says, \u201cSo he declared all foods to be clean.\u201d So go ahead and pay a visit to Red Lobster and eat those scallops wrapped in bacon\u2026 It\u2019s okay. It really is.<\/p>\n
We interpret the Bible and apply it to modern needs using common sense and several other authoritative elements. Natural law is a very important one. The whole of Catholic teaching down the ages is another authoritative factor.<\/p>\n
So, for example, we allow women to come to church without wearing a hat even though it says in the Bible they should keep their heads covered in worship. Despite the ban on women wearing braided hair and gold and pearl jewelry we say, \u201cIt\u2019s okay.\u201d That\u2019s because we combine knowledge with common sense. In New Testament times it was prostitutes or vain silly rich women who showed their hair, braided it into ornate headdresses and wore lots of jewelry. We draw out the big principle and say, \u201cChristian ladies should dress modestly and without vanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Does the Old Testament forbid homosexual actions? Yes, but we don\u2019t say homosexual actions are sinful simply because of a verse in Leviticus which must be obeyed with robotic obedience because it is the Word of God. \u00a0We make that judgement based on common sense, natural law and the whole of Catholic theology. The big picture of Catholic theology says God created men and women and they are to get married and have babies and that is primarily what their genitals are for. Likewise a mouth is for eating and a rectum is for expelling solid waste from the body. They weren\u2019t designed for ahem\u2026sexual activities\u2026 This observation we call \u201cnatural law\u201d because it simply is as it is and anyone with common sense can see it for what it is.<\/p>\n
The whole of Catholic theology interlinks with Catholic anthropology. in other words, what we believe about people is pretty much as important as what we believe about God. We believe God man men and women to be in a relationship with him, and it is through certain physical means called sacraments that the relationship is brought to life. One of these sacraments is marriage and from the beginning of creation marriage was between a man and a woman not only to bring forth children but to co operate with God in the creation of eternal souls. The physical and spiritual are intertwined.<\/p>\n
The prohibition on homosexual actions is based therefore, not on a verse in Leviticus, but on the whole shootin\u2019 match\u2013God, humanity, man, woman, Jesus, Mary, love, marriage, kids, families, everlasting life\u2026Everything Catholic is connected and everything makes sense when you study the whole thing.<\/p>\n
So oysters and lobster and pork BBQ and bacon sandwiches are okay and ladies can wear trousers and don\u2019t have to wear hats to church.<\/p>\n
Gay sex?\u2013or any sex outside marriage for that matter\u2013<\/p>\n
It\u2019s forbidden.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A good question came up in the comment box regarding this post okaying a little tattoo for a Catholic boy. A parishioner asked if it was okay to get a tattoo since a verse in Leviticus forbids it. I explained that in Old Testament times pagan people had tattoos as a way of making a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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