Pope Francis recently demonstrated again how the Catholic Church always tries to have it both ways. In an interview with The Associated Press, he drew a line on homosexuality between a sin and a crime, saying:

“We are all children of God and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each one of us has to fight for our dignity. Being homosexual is not a crime. It’s not a crime.

“Yes, it’s a sin, well, yes, but let’s make the distinction first between sin and crime. But it’s also a sin to lack charity with one another, So what about that? …And being homosexual isn’t a crime, it’s a human condition.”

This is rather standard Vatican double talk. To square Catholic dogma with biblical truth, he cannot agree that homosexuality is OK. But he also cannot agree with God that it is an abomination because it is too rampant in the ranks of Catholic leadership as was exposed several years ago and more recently in the pedophile scandal. It is telling that the Bible does not draw a clear distinction between homosexuality and pedophilia.

But more doubletalk is exposed in his handling of the word, “crime.” He illustrates it by citing the fact that many countries have laws criminalizing homosexuality. In fact, the purpose of his message appears to be directed to those countries, lobbying them to lighten up their laws.

Later in the interview he calls those laws “unfair” and makes a very revealing statement:

“And being homosexual isn’t a crime, it’s a human condition.”

We would agree that all sin is a “human condition” called original sin. But that is God’s definition of sin. In today’s culture it is just another excuse for blame shifting. “I was born this way,” is the excuse and then they demand we attribute them “dignity” in spite of their sin. All this jockeying is not God’s way.

In Leviticus 18, God makes clear His policy in relation to the criminal aspect. Homosexual behavior is in a list of several other abominations that He abhors. Then he sums it up in a policy statement about judgment: “For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people” (Leviticus 18:29).

The policy was to get their criminal behavior out of circulation before they polluted the entire culture.

Intentional rebellion against God’s laws (policies) generally required severe measures eliminating them from society. The Bible indicates how dangerous God thought that it was to the society. It is obvious that our justice system has not handled this “abomination” very well, considering how deep the poison of homosexuality has spread in our culture.

The pope is simply reflecting the lies that they are “born that way” and need to be protected from any criminal judgment that resembles God’s viewpoint.

In the interview, Francis acknowledged that some Catholic Bishops still support laws that criminalize homosexual behavior or discriminate against the LGBTQ community. But, he attributed these attitudes to cultural backgrounds, and said that bishops need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.

So, anyone who stands up for God’s judgment on homosexuality, needs re-education to learn how to “dignify” what God calls sin and the resulting disruptive behavior.

With the growing ignorance of the Bible, God’s viewpoint on sin and control of sinful behavior fades more and more into the background. We need to counter that every way we can. An engaging gospel tract containing a generous helping of God’s words can redirect someone away from the wrong path that leads to God’s final judgment of eternity in hell.