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Character Profile Series pt. 1 - Why is Dara Gay? The Catholic Church and The Portrayal of Sin in Re

Why is Dara gay? I realize I have struggled with fully explaining this question from a reader and I hope this blog post will answer her question.

Readers of Redwood already know the characters are wound up in their secrets and struggles and, if you have not read Redwood, then based on my tweets, Facebook posts, and other visual posts you know that Autumn is a ghost and James is her murderer.

Dara McKenna (as he prefers his last name) is the only child born to James and Louise MacKenna. His father is Catholic and his mother informally converts to Catholicism. (I’ll tackle this in another post.)

The Catholic Church outlines the difference in mortal and venial sins as: Mortal sin: Destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to Him. Venial sin: Allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it. (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church for full text and reference)

To continue, readers will find that the characters in Redwood have all committed, according to the Catholic Church, both mortal and venial sins. The venial sins of the flesh that Redwood’s characters find themselves committing include: fornication, strife, jealousy, anger, envy, drunkenness.

Now, regardless of one’s personal opinion on sin, as the author and creator of Redwood and its Catholic characters, I needed to juxtapose James’ mortal sin against a lesser perceived venial sin committed by his son in order to still thread the theme of forgiveness throughout the novel. I needed Dara to realize that the secret he holds so closely and never reveals to his mother is no where near the level of sin and secrets his mother and father keep to themselves. I needed Dara to continue to struggle with his faith and the teachings of the Church, while turning to God and representatives of the Church to help him find a resolution to Autumn’s wrath.

It is my hope that my readers, regardless of their opinions on sin, faith, and teachings of the Church, will cheer for Dara and love him as I do for he is facing what seems to be insurmountable odds along with carrying the burden of his father’s sin.

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