Brother R asks:
2. Why are all homosexual acts wrong? I can understand no gay sex. But what's wrong with kissing, making out, or holding hands. How can I witness to a gay atheist? How can I use natural law to argue against homosexuality? Also if all acts have to work towards procreation, then can impotent couples kiss, hold hands, make out? Aren't we applying a double standard. (I also want to witness at a gay pride parade with Church, any suggestions? I find it interesting how we pray in front of abortion clinics but not gay pride parades, I think we need to start doing that and spread it across the Church.)
A PRECURSER OR INTRODUCTION
Before we dive into the issue of homosexuality, I think it is important to establish some details. First, the Church is not against sex. Sexual differentiation, the sexual urge, and sexual desires are all a part of what it means to be human, what it means to have a body. That is why the Sistine Chapel is adorned with nudes- because the body is lovely and expresses something lovely about human nature and about God.
So there you are, a twenty-something college Religious Studies graduate running a high school youth group in the suburbs, in a room filled with 100+ teenagers who are collectively angry at whatever it is you, as an old man, have to say about sex and relationships. You clear your throat and begin...
BUT WAIT! Don't make the same mistakes that I've made in my rookie days as an anstinence-pledge-card-bearer. Here are 3 simple things you can do when giving a chastity talk to have a wider impact on the hearts and minds of your students that can create lasting change.
Maybe I do hate you.
Maybe forgiveness for what you have done to me is too easy for you.