Pope Benedict XVI is a bully

Last week, Pope Benedict XVI had some pretty choice words, not only for the gay community, but for the world.

In an address to diplomats representing almost 180 countries, the leader of the Catholic Church said gay marriage’s massive contribution to the disruption of family life would essentially undermine “the future of humanity itself.”  Apparently, if the rapture does happen in 2012, you can blame the gays.

While there are many things blatantly sickening about this comment, perhaps the most frightening aspect is the fact that the Pope is truly being a bully.

Homosexuality and its relationship to any religion is often a slippery slope of troubled times, but the Catholic Church has always been particularly damaging and confusing in its relations with homosexual members. Claiming homosexual thoughts and tendencies are acceptable but acting on them is not seems like a cruel and taunting mind game to me.

The Pope’s new vehemence, however, truly pushes him into tormenter status. He is putting out the notion to gay Catholics that by getting married, a fairly basic human desire, they will actually bring down humanity. And now there is trouble.

Gay youth who desire to follow the Catholic faith — and might not have a choice because their parents are followers — are conflicted and see themselves as flawed individuals. They might have a love for the Catholic god, but it seems to not be a reciprocal affair.

This lack of acceptance has the potential to go down the path we are unfortunately all too familiar with. While many see a decrease in the severity of the teen suicide epidemic, thanks to all the support groups that have been flourishing recently, the deaths continue.

Recently, Eric James Borges, acclaimed filmmaker and “It Gets Better” advocate, fell victim to suicide. Clearly, not everything is fixed yet. The Pope is an example of the fact that many still do not accept gay equality.

I see no difference between the Pope and schoolyard bullies who make such a detrimental impact on their impressionable peers. The only variation is that we have tried to crack down on the schoolyard ones.

Even if Benedict has an issue with the gay lifestyle, he should still have love and respect for human life at its core.

Knowing that his words could potentially lead to unhappiness in gay individuals or contribute to something even more drastic should not sit well with him. The fact that it seems to rest just fine should provoke outrage.

The Bible can be interpreted (or misinterpreted) in a variety of ways, but no one can twist the well-known building blocks such as “love your neighbor as yourself” into something they are not.

Bullying and putting other people down in an outrageous display is certainly not following what is supposed to be the Bible’s golden rule.

Pope Benedict XVI, I hope someday you will realize the folly you have made and return to the love and compassion that your religion should be based on.

­— sjostrow@indiana.edu