Old homosexuals and teens

A Roman Catholic couple has joined the United Church after the Catholic archbishop denied them communion because of their same-sex wedding.

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Daniel Poirier and Jack Murphy, of Meteghan Centre, were married last spring and announced their wedding with a photograph in the newspaper.
Murphy and Poirier, both 69, have been together for seven years. They say residents and parishioners at Stella Maris church accept them as a couple.

The men have since joined the Deacon United Church in Yarmouth, but once a month they go back to Stella Maris.

"The hardest thing is when people go to communion and we have to sit down," said Poirier, who would normally be rehearsing the choir at this time of year for the Christmas mass.

"It breaks my heart to hear that music and I can't be part of it."

The couple met with Prendergast to argue their case, but Murphy said it was clear the archbishop wasn't going to change his mind when he said the men should do what Jesus said to the prostitutes: sin no more.

"I was very angry at that because Danny and I are not prostitutes. We love and are committed to each other," Murphy said.

They can sin some more because they're not paid prostitutes. I think he
missed the point.

The Archbishop perhaps thought we had enough gay choir directors as it is.
I am an organist, and at first told very few people since there were so many
fringe folks in that area, I was not ready for the controversy. I don't see that
fringe there anymore, but I do see a lot of "church people" in those roles. It's
a little harder to fix that problem.

And on another note...

Catholic bishops are hitting out at the proposal to lower the age of consent to 16, saying it sends the wrong signal to young people and parents.

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They say it sends out the wrong signal to a young generation who, under the influence of teenage glossy magazines, peer pressure and binge drinking, feel engaging in sexual activity is something trivial.

The bishops also feel it sends out the wrong signal to parents, who they claim are themselves confused as to how they should react in the face of their children's activities.

The heads of the Irish Catholic Church go on to say they are amazed that politicians and public opinion makers shy away from confronting the basic demands of morality.

Of course I see the Bishops point of view. But I think 16 is the right age.
As right as 18 anyway.

The American press is full of stories about young adults getting in trouble
with 17 and 18 year olds. Comon... we're locking folks up not really because of
the wrong, but because we're sending the 'right' message by having the age set
at 18.

Someone at 16 is hardly more able to make the right choice than
someone of 18, or 21. Youth has its problems that no arbritary age can define.
The correct age is probably closer to 25.

We all know sin is a result of the heart's morals. If lawmakers wish to
send a message, get a billboard. And youth's heart? Get morals.