Thread by @sunnshiiny

An Edmonton Journal article. Banning of conversion therapy. Edmonton is second city in Alberta to move towards municipal ban.

But read the comments.

https://twitter.com/kenchapman46/status/1164416797656805376

Do you think the comment section Richard Smith is the Catholic Archbishop of Edmonton, Richard Smith?

Seems consistent with this Archbishop Richard Smith.

cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

So, I’m thinking there is a high probability.

As a Catholic, I’m appalled that the Archbishop, or someone with the same name and a lot of biblical knowledge would promote conversion therapy.

I’m disgusted that any faith promotes mental abuse, but especially my own.

Most especially since the Pope promoted conversion therapy.

thinkprogress.org/pope-encourage…

I can see now why the Catholic Church and many Protestant Christian leaders are in support of social conservatives. They are losing control. Many parishioners do not support abusing a child for sexual orientation or gender dysphoria. Regardless of what Christian leaders preach.

Congregations with critical thinking skills and long exposure to Christian teachings of love, compassion and kindness have been provided the opportunity to reject central tenets of the Catholic Church and admit papal fallibility. cruxnow.com/church/2015/07…

Faced with rejecting their child and adhering to their faith, or rejecting the abusive nature of faith based conversion therapy and supporting their child, many are choosing their child. Not unexpected since every sermon used to be about love, compassion and helping the stranger.

Not anymore. A sharp change of course has occurred in the Catholic Church & corresponding Protestant faiths.

Sermons now are about obedience, respecting the word of god and ministering one’s faith to the poor in spirit.

My father in law passed away last week. He was a traditional Catholic. I am a modern Catholic. In the early years when my husband and I dated, we clashed a lot. We debated about every social issue possible and frequently had opposing views.

Once, at a large family gathering, he introduced me as his son’s radical feminist girlfriend.

But we grew to care for one another. When my boyfriend (now husband) moved in together, he did not admonish us. He took his son aside and counselled him on the rhythm method.

When we announced our engagement 10 years into our relationship, he was overjoyed for us both. By then my father in law & I were prone to long conversations about politics and social issues. We’d debate the merits of our respective ideology and listen earnestly to each other.

We wanted to get along. We wanted to understand each other’s beliefs & values. We wanted to connect. Our motivation? We both shared a mutual love of politics as well as love and affection for the man who brought us together; his son, my husband.

We both loved reading non-fiction. We both loved documentaries. Intellectually we had much in common. So we always had much to debate.

I truly respected that man. He opened my eyes to see they world from a different perspective. I believe I did the same for him.

He was kind, loving (in a jovial traditional conservative dad way), honest, generous, thoughtful & gracious. Every time we visited he kissed me on the head. My husband & children too. At first I thought it was condescending, but grew to appreciate his demonstration of affection.

Once we debated religion. He fiercely defended adherence to traditional Catholic dogma. I stumped him towards the end of the conversation. I argued god didn’t expect to have the same relationship with every person. My father in law had 3 children.

His relationship wasn’t exactly the same with each child. Each child was different, & there were differences in their relationship to him & his relationship to each child. Each relationship was unique. How could god expect every person to be homogenous when each person is unique?

We never discussed religion again. It wasn’t a crisis of faith, but he was perplexed by his belief and that revelation.

I grew to be very fond of my father in law. And he grew very fond of me. We cared deeply for one another. And I will miss him dearly.

My point in relating my experience with my very staunch Catholic father in law is to point out his kindness. Many believe conservatives have no compassion or love for anyone but themselves. I was one of those people. My father in law taught me I was wrong, by example.

We weren’t that different. Raised on the same liturgy, we had similar compassion for our fellow human beings. Different ideas on how to address problems, but we agreed on the nature of most issues.

That’s no longer what is taught in the Catholic faith.

All Alberta Archbishops were displeased about LGBTQ rights being brought to Catholic schools. No longer were they the sole directors of Catholic faith. After the worldwide child sexual abuse revelations, you’d think Church leaders would refrain from promoting conversion therapy.

But no, they’ve doubled down.

The Church, not the compassion & love it represents, was losing relevance and power because of those past abuses and the coverups. Rather than learn from their mistakes, Church leaders choose to continue to promote the abuse of the most vulnerable.

God only knows why. It’s the same as when the priest told my paternal grandmother to stay with her physically abusive husband. Then shunned her when she didn’t. She wasn’t obedient. God had chosen those trials for her to endure. What right did she as a mere woman have to disobey?

It’s not the scriptures that reflect love and compassion that are the problem. It’s the individuals who use the bible to gain, wield power & force obedience on those who have faith.

Personally, I’d rather go to hell, than abuse a child. Threaten all you want Archbishop Smith.

I will never obey the Church’s command to abuse LGBTQ children or adults, or shun them, or shame them.

If god created LGBTQ, maybe it’s a trial for the faithful to love and show compassion or to blindly obey a command to hate.

I choose love. I know I’m not the only one.