Steve, I've never thought of the Catholic Church as being a particularly good or realistic advisor on sexual issues. I have no doubt that plumbers had some knowledge of carpentry, but I rarely go to plumbers for advice on carpentry - or to celibate males for advice on sex.

Since the sexual molestation scandal in the Catholic Church, I have taken the obligation upon myself to remind young priests, particularly Third World priests in the US, that I see no reason why they should be considered to be credible advisors on sexual issues. One young Filipino priest unfriended me last month over the gay marriage issue, but I hope he learned from what I had to say to him.

Although what the Catholic Church says on sexual matters gets a lot of press and a lot of (justified) criticism, sex is a relatively minor part of the teachings of most churches. There is very little about sex in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or in the Bible. Yes, there are some sex-crazed fundamentalists that make a big deal of it - but for the most part, sex isn't what religious faith is all about.

-Joe Offer-