Whilst the British marriage equality fight is currently in a "consolidate the forces" phase as the Holyrood and Westminister consultations begin to get going, in California the long stalled Proposition 8 trial is back on today. The opponents of marriage equality have been given the right to defend Prop 8 following the state authorities decision not to do so.
If they hadn't have been granted this right, Californian same sex couples would've been able to marry without further rulings. This might sound like this move is thus a defeat for marriage equality but it actually means this moves the subject one step closer to the US Supreme Court. Now that will be a battle worth fighting.
Here in the UK, whilst all might seem peaceful, the Catholic church is preparing for the fight. After a few opening salvos in Scotland, they are preparing "the message" ready for the big fight in the first few months of the new year. Next week there is a event entitled "Gay Marriage and the Common Good" to help keep everyone on message. They are getting ready. I do hope you are too.
I think LGBT people need to prepare to feel the full wrath of the Church, with every news story on marriage equality quoting offensive stuff about how unnatural and evil we are. We might think we are used to this thanks to the sort of things you see in the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph. But the Catholic Church takes marriage equality very seriously indeed, and shall make sure their nasty views get into all sorts of media outlets we would normally not expect to see them in. Just think of how bad Sunday Morning Live is, and then imagine that sort of stuff on BBC Breakfast, Channel 4 news, every radio current affairs shows and even on Comment is Free. That's what we've got to look forward to in 2012.
Fun times lie ahead.
If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist
1 comment:
"I think LGBT people need to prepare to feel the full wrath of the Church, with every news story on marriage equality quoting offensive stuff about how unnatural and evil we are."
Hmm...Some of Roman Catholic bishops say such things, but a lot of them are much suaver nowadays. They will go on about according us our due respect and dignity and about how they are against "unjust discrimination" (what a weasel word that "unjust" is in their mouths). But, they will sigh, the common good requires upholding of the present "definition" of marriage, since the point of marriage is to bind parents together and thus secure the well-being of the children.
Of course, when probed, those positions usually show their weaknesses. (For instance, in Scotland they have been very evasive when pressed on the point that, if the point of marriage is chuild-rearing, the RC Church should be against marriage of the infertile/elderly.) Still, it's as well to be aware that the RC Church has learned to be suave. These days it's rare for the bishops to draw on expressly theological premises ("God says...., so the law must..."). Instead, they will talk sweetly about the common good and the Church's insights into human flourishing, etc, etc. Much of it will *sound* sweetly secular. Here the RC Church tends to differ from the evangelicals, who are much more likely to say there shouldn't be gay marriage "because it says in the Bible that..."
Post a Comment