The Gift of Anger In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a novel about the practice of slavery in the South because she was angry. She was angry at the fact of slavery but, much more so, she was angry at the indifference with which Northerners regarded slavery. So she wrote a novel that put a human and suffering face on that slavery such that, Northerners, who generally had no personal exposure with slavery, could gain for themselves a close and personal look at the ugly underbelly of that dreadful institution. Her book sold 300,000 copies during the first year. I, too, am angry. First and foremost, I am angry at the indifference and cowardice that kept me silent for over twenty-five years while I was being honored as one of the best and brightest teachers at The Athenaeum of Ohio. I knew, from personal experiences, that the teaching of my church regarding homosexuality was a distorted and cruel doctrine. But I also knew that no one who openly challenged this teaching could survive in such a climate of fear and conformity to Vatican decisions. Homophobia is a social disease that has been widely exposed and eradicated during the last fifty years. Within conservative churches, however, there is an addiction to homophobia that twists and turns in the guts of the most devout worshippers. As an instance of this, the American Catholic bishops triumphantly declared that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of “same-sex marriages” did not change their minds and that “God’s law trumps human law.” Thus a vocal minority of bishops is carefully orchestrating a campaign to shame and to silence those Catholics who support or who enter into same-sex unions. Teachers are fired in my archdiocese for supporting youths who come out as gays or lesbians. Lesbian couples in my parish who are active contributors to lay ministry live in fear that their pastor will find out and their ministries and/or their right to take communion would be withdrawn. A gay Catholic suffering a heart attack at a local hospital was denied the last rites by a self-righteous hospital chaplain because he “refused to repent of his lifelong homosexuality.” So my job has been to write the book that would make it impossible for this pious hypocrisy to continue to exist within Christian churches. Our job together is to make it possible for 999 copies of this book to be distributed free, to be discussed, to be debated, and, in many quarters, to be roundly condemned. If you are unable to attend the 2018 World Meeting of Families, I would invite you to receive a free copy of my book [available at https://payhip.com/b/QM9P ] and to read it and discuss it in solidarity with those who will be meeting August 21-26th in Dublin. Better yet, find yourself a reading partner. Decide to read a chapter a week and to spend an hour sharing discoveries, sharing lives, and sharing the plight of LGBTQ young people. Such exchanges are REVOLUTIONARY and prepare for a whole new multi-colored world that is being born. . . . Peace, Justice, and Joy, Dr. Aaron Milavec Milavec@Jesus4Lesbians.com