Faith in love

Interpreting the word of God is not our department, but anyone who cares about human rights should commend Pope Francis for joining Protestant leaders from England and Scotland to denounce laws that criminalize homosexuality. Those statues, in nearly 70 countries, where men who love men and women who love women can face criminal consequences, are an “injustice” and a “sin,” they said.

Amen. In 11 nations, LGBTQ individuals can be put to death. No religion that reveres human life should tolerate such horrendous persecution.

To be sure, the Catholic Church, like many other religions, walks a fine line here. Francis still believes that same-sex sexual relations are sinful, which is to say, contrary to the faith he considers the one and only truth. Last month, the Church of England said it would continue to teach that marriage is between “one man and one woman for life.” Though we and most Americans disagree, that’s a sentiment shared by plenty of leaders in the

Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other traditions.

For religious leaders to seek to advance the primacy of man-woman marriage and protect what they consider the sanctity of a family headed by a mother and father is one thing. For them to excuse laws that go out of their way to use the immense power of the state to punish individuals who violate those religious dictates is another.

In Christianity, loving thy brother and sister is the highest of all values, one worth holding higher than the impulse to excoriate those who may stray from other commands. Indeed, a devout Muslim or Jew or Buddhist or Hindu or atheist should be free to practice or not even if living in an overwhelmingly Christian country.

The conservatives who have been upset at this Pope for years are surely in a tizzy about what they consider the umpteenth accommodation to the whims of contemporary society. They are free to stew. All that matters is that fewer good people may someday soon be sent to prison or to their deaths.