GLADE PARK, Colorado (Catholic Online) - At its Oct. 9, 2009 Respect Awards event in Los Angeles, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) honored David Bohnett, who heads the David Bohnett Foundation, an organization that claims it is "committed to improving society through social activism".

David Bohnett has long been an avid supporter of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered ("LGBT") movement. In delivering his acceptance speech (bohnettfoundation.org/speeches/view/35), Bohnett spoke out against religious institutions which oppose the homosexual lifestyle, stating that "In order to achieve permanent and lasting gains and maintain our momentum it’s important that we target the sources of the intolerance and discrimination towards lesbian and gay kids and their families." Bohnett went on to say, "It’s time to combat head-on the religious organizations that are funding the opposition to marriage equality and safe school legislation."

It is clear that Bohnett intends to enter into "combat" not only with the Christian faith transmitted by the Catholic Church, which he sees as an obstacle standing in the way of his view of "improving society", but also with the Catholic Church herself. After all, she is – and ever will remain – the voice of truth in opposition to immoral behaviors which injure society and divest man of the true freedom he is able to attain by sharing in the divine life of God.Bohnett himself affirms that the Catholic Church is his adversary:

"Let us make it known . . . that we will challenge those religious leaders and institutions that shamefully and cowardly use the imprimatur of their church and the name of god [sic] and Jesus to promote hatred and bigotry toward lesbians and gay men. Among our greatest adversaries who actively work against us are the leaders of the Catholic, Mormon, and evangelical churches who seek to deny equal protection for us and for our children."

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Bohnett made a number of rash assertions denigrating the Catholic Church and the Christian faith which she transmits. All of them are false. The Catholic Church is in not an institution which "shamefully and cowardly" uses the name of God to "promote hatred and bigotry toward lesbians and gay men". On the contrary, the Catholic Church is an institution which diligently promotes faith, hope and love, has labored over the centuries for peace, justice and true freedom and who points with constancy to God and his Word who is Truth.Let's be clear, even if dozens of carefully reasoned arguments were to be presented, each showing why homosexual sexual acts are contrary to the Natural Law, why they damage society, or why they are opposed to God, it is unlikely that these arguments would have any positive effect on those who are insistent upon actively engaging in homosexual behavior. Let me explain.

Grave sin prevents the light of the Holy Spirit from entering into the minds and hearts of men and women who reject the truth. That is why prayer is our strongest weapon against the growing darkness. The Lord is the One who calls all to repentance, forgiving those who listen to his call and raining grace and strength upon them so that they may adhere to His precepts. Catholics and other Christians are aware of the life changing experiences that result from prayer, repentance and conversion. Without them, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is quenched, real understanding is destroyed, the seed of piety cannot germinate, and the desire for truth dissipates. The condition of men and women so afflicted is explained by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians in Rome:

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity”. (Romans 1: 25 – 27)

However, while arguments are ineffective for some they are not ineffective for all. Therefore they do serve an important purpose, advancing the real common good. But there are rules that ought to be followed. Devoid of them, positive results will not be attained. Arguments must be grounded in reason; they must ring true; and the opposing sides must each have a sincere desire to embrace truth when they hear it. They have to want to submit to Wisdom.Further, the "public discourse" must have as its purpose exposing assumptions for what they are. Each side has to be willing to explain their assumptions, ground them in truth, and, if they are unable to do so, let those assumptions go. In other ...