In teaching this topic (and the subsequent firestorm that engulfed this blog because of it about 1 year ago) I think the most important thing that I've come to understand in the homosexuality discussions is that for those who really look at the Church's teaching on the topic, the Church's message is actually good news.
An essay I always had my students read, a Catholic author, David Morrison, talks about how no one but the Church gets it right. (click here to purchase an AMAZING collection of Catholic essays for today's Catholic) He said you have the evangelical Protestant Bible Christians describing same-sex attraction as a sin, while you have the left wing culture of death folks talking about how same-sex attraction is something that you are born with and can't control. The Church comes through with the only message that actually is corroborated by Scripture AND modern psychology - that same-sex attraction itself is not something that, certainly in the short-term, a person ever has any control over. The Church says the attraction is not a sin, while at the same time having the courage to call all people to chastity and to note that sexual ACTION (not attraction) ought only to manifest itself in marriage.
Now, another Catholic writer, Patrick Einheber, is commencing a series of articles on this same topic, daring to write about his own struggles with same-sex attraction while also living within the heart of the Church. I strongly encourage all Catholics (and all people of good will) to follow this story and check back regularly with this young man's columns. It is a message that talking heads on all sides of the debate need to pay attention to. Click here to see the author's first installment.
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