Aaron Milavec > Quotes

“Notice that the Gospel does not say “former tax collectors” or “former prostitutes.”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“Fundamentalists don’t know how to make exceptions.”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“When “fundamentalism” takes root within a religious movement, emphasis shifts away from love of God and love of neighbor in order to be replaced by an obsessive fear that infractions of the sexual purity code are responsible for dragging modern society down to hell.”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“This is what fundamentalist love to do.  They persuade themselves that they have “God’s absolute point of view” and that their mission is to bring everyone else into line “with their God.”  In so doing, they become the Catholic Taliban and justify their “moral terrorism” as somehow required by God himself.  This is why, as shown above, Pope Francis calls them “godless.”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions.  "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience.  Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“Fundamentalists thrive in times of rapid social change.  Fundamentalists generally champion emotionally charged issues that can be reduced to unambiguous black and white terms. ”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“Let it be recognized that all of the faithful — clerical and lay — possess a lawful freedom of enquiry and of thought, and the freedom to express their minds humbly and courageously about those matters in which they enjoy competence” [Gaudium et Spes § 62].”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“The application of their rules routinely produces immense amounts of suffering and even threatens to breakdown solid marriages as well.[96]  Their sense of compassion and mercy, however, is severely limited by their presuppositions.  To maintain their absolute certainties, they have to tell themselves that they have chosen the “narrow path” upholding God’s sexual purity codes.  As they follow in Christ’s footsteps, the thistles and thorns on both sides of the path cut into their flesh.  They are content not to be happy in this world; their eyes are on the prize in the world to come.  Being disposed to relish pain more than joy, they naturally listen to the suffering of their victims with the same disposition that they give to their own suffering. ”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“Over the pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there still stands one’s own conscience, which must be obeyed before all else, even if necessary against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority. ”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]

“The image of the Church favored by the Pope is that of a “field hospital” that welcomes in those injured and heals their wounds.  Meanwhile, for fundamentalists, their image of the Church is “the fortress on the hilltop” that protects the “true believers” and  defends the true faith against all the enemies of God. ”
― Aaron Milavec, What Jesus Would Say to a Homosexual Couple: Nonviolent Resistance to the Christian Taliban [Revised Expanded Version]