Apparently, there are plenty of people who recognize my religion as a "hate group" solely because of JUST our views on same-sex marriage alone. Can anyone say biased?
Can anyone say you're going to burn in hellfire for all eternity for being a homosexual sinner?
It seems there are those in even my own religion that continue to forget that it is left to our fates post-mortem (in our case God, if you will), to judge us; or at worst, ourselves to judge ourselves. Seeing as we are our worst critics after all. Sorta like that one quote about true Hell being that you as you currently stand face the kind of person you could have become (IE- your best ending self). In a sense, we state that it's pretty much not cool to judge others for their flaws and so forth. Unfortunately, the vocal minority of the ignorant bastards that use our name for more meaningless reasons, and malevolent purposes seem to all too often forget this little detail, and continue to corrupt our legitimately good nature. Like I said, using myself as an example, I have no problem with gay people and marriage between them. If I am damned to Hell, well what else is new? I've got a cottage there as a summer home. Despite being Catholic, I welcome an eternity in Hell because I'm a decent person that respect other peoples' happiness, regardless their background. The God I learned about is a God that is like a good father. Respects His children, teaches them, and disciplines them when they get out of line. Unfortunately, some kids have been acting like spoiled brats, and it's about time he slaps some of them hard for their brattiness. He did not make/raise us to be THIS hostile. We should stand our ground in the face of conflict, not be the ones making them; and when things get bad, take the high ground, and take the hits. Persevere and be still, and when aggression faces you, turn the other cheek.
Come and think of it, it does seem like a political fad right now. Hopefully this is bullshit, just like the secession of the states thing previously. That was the last fad, as far as I remember.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_among_LGBT_youth
Very much an issue.
I understand this, but again I must mention the above issue. There are total assholes ruining our good name with this hatred crap, and if I had the power to, I'd ex-communicate them in a heartbeat. They are Catholics in name only. If you pay attention to the real ones, you can tell the difference like night and day.
EDIT:
In a sense, if the petition was more precise as to exactly WHO is responsible for the crap making us look hateful, then I would be willing to sign it too; but this generalization is far too broad, and labels even someone like me as someone who should be destroyed with extreme prejudice. I'm not even on the list of 'Bad Guys', and I deserve this label... somehow. I know, I know, "Now you know how we feel." will roll around. Duh. But that's besides the point. How the petition is staged, it's like eradicating an ant with a gamma ray burst from a quasar. It needs to be revised or refined, because many innocents that can help will no longer be able to in fear of being treated as equals to the Westboros. We are so NOT them. And I speak for the humble majority (despite my response being less than humble).
EDIT EDIT:
When you actually study Catechism, you'll come to realize that all this homophobic behavior is really more a matter of someone's personal opinion that memetically infected the rest of the religion. Personally, not cool man. Not cool at all. I don't recall any of my teachings or texts mentioning anything anti-gay, and so forth (and my teachings were mostly un-edited content, nowadays really hard to find legitimately (I think it has been placed among the "Banned Books" levels these days, for some bizarre reason); also not cool); although on the abortion front; well, the more time that child had to brew into existence, the more cruel it is to end it's life prematurely. I mean, I'll somewhat comply with the 1-month rule, for what it's worth, for argument's sake, but little past that, that sucker's got eyes and a brain, and is in an extremely primitive level of existence, and premature termination is essentially considered an act of cruelty; especially if it's out of convenience rather than practicality. The ire of others is deserved if especially out of convenience (I mean, bragging about it on Facebook? Really? And labeling it like a sudden weight loss to show off?); especially if it's a late-term abortion. How can any human sleep after permitting such a horrible act; especially to their own blood?