A Comparison Of Homosexuality In Catholicism And Islam

In religion, people believe certain things and practice certain rituals to ultimately satisfy and gain a relationship with the greater being that they believe in; most commonly the greater being is known as a God. Most religions believe that if this is achieved, they will reach heaven and avoid hell. There are certain things that some religions do not condone, homosexuality being one of them, yet homosexuality is becoming a growing and more widely accepted behavior in today’s society. In regards to religion, Catholicism and Islam have 2 widely different views on this concept and homosexuality has caused various religions to adapt their teachings. In doing so, Islam still rejects this behavior while Catholicism has become more accepting of it,

The Catholic Church holds the belief that homosexuality is an objective disorder and describes it as “moral evil,” yet is not considered a sin until acted upon (Ratzinger, 1986). Once acted upon, it is seen as a moral disorder in which it is “contrary to natural law” and that one “closes the sexual act to the gift of life” (“Catechism”). More over, the Catholic Church believes that marriage should be between a man and woman in order to continue the transmission of life (“Cathechism”). More recently, the Pope and Catholic Church have made statements saying that those with homosexual tendencies should not be discriminated upon, but given pastoral direction so that they can practice their faith properly under God’s will (Ring, 2016). In saying this, they still believe that homosexuality is

Many people of the Muslim religion struggle with this identity because of such laws against the presence of homosexuality. It has been reported, although, that homosexuality is still prevalent in these countries, but happens in private and is not publicly exhibited (Kligerman, 2007). A news report stated that the government in Iran recognizes transgendered individuals, but recognizes them as having a psychosexual problem and suggests medical attention to try to solve this so-called problem (Bagri, 2017). One transgender individual mentioned that her life was far from normal and dealt with societal pressures her whole life. Doctors would not acknowledge that she was different and often would tell her that she would die or that there was no possible way she was born differently (Bagri, 2017). It was also reported in the same article by Bagri that it is said one must go through series of tests and even obtain a court order if that individual wanted to identify as the opposite sex and go forth with the transformtation (2017). Having such negative views of the individuals of the LGBT community and going through a long process just to be who you were meant to be causes more harm than good on these