“By promoting … the Church teaching on
homosexuality, you become, in my opinion, an active agent of a vindictive
maintenance of a great social evil that is surely pro “culture-of-death”, since
it is seemingly linked to the high suicide rate among gay teens.”[1]
These words were
written by Dr. Couling, who is a regular commentator on the articles on website
of The Southern Cross, South Africa’s weekly Catholic newspaper. Dr. Couling opposes many of the Church’s teachings. I won’t bother listing them; it’s the usual
list! Dr. Couling’s pet project is to actively
promote gay marriage and get the Church to reverse the Church teaching on
homosexuality.
So getting back
to these words of Dr. Couling: Are you
as surprised by these words as I am?
Does Dr. Couling honestly believe that because I believe the Church’s
teaching on homosexuality and support it, that I am contributing to gay teen
suicide. Is he serious when he claims
that because I do, what all good Catholics must do, which is to promote Church
teaching, including the teaching on the subject of homosexuality, that I am a
contributor to the high suicide rates among gay teens.
The next natural
inference from this bizarre statement is that because it is the Church’s
teaching that I am promoting, it is actually the Church that is contributing to
the high suicide rate amongst gay teens.
All Catholics who support the Church’s teaching in this regard are
therefore Agents of this great social evil.
I decided to ask
Dr. Couling directly if this was what he was inferring. His reply to me was categorical: “Yes, Mark, in this instance it appears to be
precisely what the official Church might be doing, albeit unwittingly!”[2] Huh?
Dr. Couling is
not a stupid man. This is obvious when
one considers that he is one of the academic staff at the University of
Kwazulu-Natal and takes note of some of his research projects, such as the “Measurement of molecular polarisabilities and hyperpolarisabilities via the electro-optic Kerreffect, Rayleigh light-scattering and the Cotton Mouton effect”, amongst
others. This sounds very
impressive.
I am also
informed by a few sources, though I have personally been unable to verify it,
that Dr. Couling is also a Catechism teacher at one of the Catholic parishes in
Pietermaritzburg.
So what is the
lesson here?
It does not
matter how many qualifications a man or woman may have, neither does it matter
what position he or she holds, even if it is the position of a priest,
religious or theologian; if what they say contradicts or challenges the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, even slightly, they’re just plain wrong. Ignore them completely and, whatever you do,
make sure they aren’t your child’s Catechism teacher! If they are the Catechism teacher, write to the bishop immediately. Untold harm is being done to young Catholic minds!
[1] Vincent Couling, The
Southern Cross, extracted Oct 1, 2012: http://www.scross.co.za/2012/09/billings-has-had-100-success/comment-page-1/#comment-154416
[2] Vincent Couling, The
Southern Cross, extracted Oct 1, 2012: http://www.scross.co.za/2012/09/billings-has-had-100-success/comment-page-1/#comment-154427
