by Maureen Fiedler
A new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute has found that Catholics are the most likely (among the religiously affiliated) to say that messages coming from houses of worship on the subject of homosexuality are generally negative rather than generally positive: 47 percent of Catholics make this judgment. Only the religious unaffiliated are higher with this judgment at 65 percent.
According to the Institute, when asked to rate their own churches on their handling of this issue, “three-quarters of white evangelicals give their church an “A” (48 percent) or “B” (27 percent). Among white mainline Protestants and Catholics, only about 4-in-10 give their church an “A” or “B.” Catholics were most likely to give their churches negative marks, with nearly one-third giving their churches a “D” (15 percent) or an “F” (16 percent).”
And many people of all faith traditions see a strong connection between these negative messages and the high rate of suicide among young people who are gay or lesbian. There were no questions on bullying.
To read the study, visit: http://www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=426
