ARGUMENT: I AM LGBT AND DESPITE CHURCH TEACHING I KNOW I AM A GOOD CATHOLIC

You should not demean yourself by being in a denomination whose official and standard teaching you feel entitled to disobey. Disobedience is a necessary evil. But not when you can walk. Best to avoid disobedience. If you oppose the teaching and disobey you are only making yourself being seen as a hypocrite and that does not serve the cause you support in defiance of the Church. If you are not a hypocrite then nobody is. Pretending a religion is not homophobic when it requires homophobia comes across as self-deceit.

The LGBT Christian can only say, "I think Christianity when correctly interpreted is not homophobic". Keep your attention on the think  word.  That person only thinks it. What good is thinking it? It is only an opinion. The person needs to KNOW it not think it. The person is encouraging a faith that they think is not homophobic and thus they are encouraging people to think differently from them too and to opine that LGBT rights is anti-Christian. They are indirectly fuelling the resultant homophobia and being an enabler of it.
 
To pretend a anti-LGBT rights faith is really pro-LGBT rights is not supporting LGBT rights. A form of Christianity that pretends that Christianity is pro-LGBT equality and rights is not a real supporter of LGBT equal rights. It is only pretending after all and deluding itself. Such support will not garner credibility.
 
The approach, "I am a good Catholic regardless of Church teaching," has the modern hypocrisy of, "You are what you claim to be even if you are not", kind of mentality. Christianity is full of it. You have atheists who see God as a symbol, and who deny that there is any creator or maker, who claim to be Christians. To describe yourself as Christian means you accept certain doctrines and standards and that is that.

Some say that asking people to leave the Church that oppresses them is adding fuel to the fire.   That is just stupid. We can't add fuel to a fire that the Church has lit and that it will keep burning. If any gay fuel fuels the fire it is because the Church wants it to and makes sure it keeps the heat on.
 
Gay people leaving the Church are not adding fuel to the fire because the Church itself says they have the right to go when they see that their lifestyles do not fit the Church.
 
Would those who try to rationalise staying agree with, "There will be no fire unless both the LGBT community keep it going and the Church keeps it going too. It takes the two sides." They then want the LGBT community not to add fuel to it but what are they doing about the Church fuelling the fire? What they are doing is saying the Catholic Church is the right religion which undermines their alleged support for LGBT people, and giving it money, supporting its worship which would not take place if people stayed in the house and rationalising away the truth that the Church is guilty of homophobia in its refusal to bless and encourage same sex relationships.  They do that by saying the pope and bishops are too negative as if their condemnations are not part of the Catholic faith! They have no Bible verses for us or statements from the Virgin Mary of Medjugorje saying that it's not a sin to have gay sex. They deceitfully want us to take their word for it that it's not a sin and that they know God's mind better than the Roman Catholic theological experts. They clearly do not know much about what they call their religion but have the nerve to pontificate as if they do.  They want Catholicism to become like every other religion that will change doctrine if the pressure is big enough.
 
The Church takes the money off the people and the people give it primarily because they want support in the difficulties of life from the Church. And so the Church should be a democracy but is not. An LGBT person giving the Church money needs to think about their self-respect.
 
Let's think again about the fire. Most people are not good obedient Catholics. Many are Catholic in name only for you need to accept the Catholic faith to be a true Catholic. Without belief, you may behave like a Catholic but you are not one inside. Jesus said that those who do not believe are not disciples of his. A doubter can only be a Catholic if he or she doesn't deliberately have the doubt and if he or she confesses it as a fault or something that should not be.
 
It is the few real Catholics who will get burnt. The fire is hardly worth worrying about.
 
A statement like "leaving only adds fuel to the fire" is narrow and bigoted. It cannot "only" add fuel to the fire. It is not totally bad even if it is wrong. And it is not wrong for if an LGBT person does not believe they are Catholic in all honesty any more they must tick the 'No Religion' box to state that and take a stand for LGBT rights. How can having principles be wrong? And principles can lead to trouble but we cannot just shelve them. Even if my approach causes problems, it might do enough good to justify tolerating those problems. Each LGBT person must weigh the risks and problems and look for solutions to as many of the problems as possible. If a Church gets more bigoted and homophobic if LGBT people exercise their right to leave it, then no self-respecting LGBT person would contemplate staying in such a Church.
 
If my approach is mistaken, LGBT people who share my approach and find problems have the responsibility to address those problems.
 
You admit there is a fire. Why don't you make a run for the fire escape?
 
Most Catholics care little for religious matters. It is the Catholics, mainly in the priesthood and the hierarchy, who care enough to try and stop LGBT rights that will feel the heat. You must be very concerned about them! I have had no bad reaction at all as a result of separating from the Church as I still mix with the Catholic community and engage in charity work on its behalf. Have you heard of amicable separations?
 
Your money helps to ensure the Church gets the world and the state's attention. By paying money to the Church you give it the means and power to fight LGBT equal rights with heterosexuals. The Church uses the power you give it to halt gay marriages and to create a climate of persecution and discrimination when it can. You are helping the dedicated Catholics to light the fire and to damn LGBT people in that fire.
 
Merely letting yourself be seen as a member gives the Church power too.
 
Until what you say is your Church stops trying to force membership on babies against Article 20, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "No one may be compelled to belong to an association" and claiming the right to educate them that homosexuality is wrong don't you dare talk to me about adding fuel. You are part of this recruitment regime at least indirectly.
 
Homophobia is strong enough in society without people supporting, through at least being a part of, a religion that adds to it. What about that for fuelling the fire?
 
The law merely says that if a couple is suitable for raising a child, they have the right to be considered if they apply to adopt. That is commonsense. The Church says gay people are not suitable persons. But even if that were true, it would be unfair to ban adoption simply on the basis that they are gay. If no gay couples are suitable, the law has to provide for the hypothetical gay couple that is suitable. Anything else is bigoted homophobia.
 
The Catholic Church processed adoptions and got good parents for many children. Many nations have legalised gay adoption. Very few children would be given to gay couples. When the law banned the Church from discriminating against gay couples, the Church closed down the adoption agencies. The Church unjustly blamed the law for these closures. It chose to leave many children uncared for before it would permit a tiny minority to go to gay couples. It did that because it never cared about the children in the first place. It was all about doing good not for the sake of the children but for the sake of making the religion look desirable.
 
Support the LGBT community if they leave or even oppose the Church for they can never add fuel to the fire - who has lit the fire? Who has fuelled it?