Of course, many Catholics were shocked and disgusted by these acts of betrayal, just as the vast majority of Muslims are shocked and disgusted by the murderous acts committed by jihadi extremists in the name of their religion. The Church hierarchy did finally issue a laughably belated apology, extracted through their teeth with red-hot pincers and the use of the rack......oh sorry, that was how the Church used to extract confessions from its enemies. Anyway, one would have thought that a period of quiet repentance and heartfelt humility - all traditional religious values - would have gone some way to repairing its tarnished image.
But lo! from the icy land of the Scotsmen there comes forth a voice in the wilderness by the name of Cardinal Keith O'Brien (former lead singer of The Prodigy), who is none other than Britain's senior Catholic. This visionary prophet, in a fiery sermon in the Sunday Telegraph, declares that two people who are in love getting married is, in fact, "a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right." Now, these two people, in the scenario he is alluding to, would be two men or two women: Dave 'Boy' Cameron is reportedly strongly in favour of legalising same-sex marriages.
O'Brien: "Hmmm, this feels like a gay head to me"
O'Brien is, of course, perfectly entitled to his voicing his objections and his views are unsurprising, if expressed in unnecessarily extreme terms. O'Brien raves on:
"it is clear that this proposal is not about rights, but rather is an attempt to redefine marriage for the whole of society at the behest of a small minority of activists".
Now, I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that Catholics are also a minority in this country; in fact, practising Christians are a minority. O'Brien is effectively accusing his opponents of the same tactics thhat he is employing so that argument won't wash. Also, O'Brien himself says that marriage is a "universal human right". If it's universal then it applies to every human being, whatever their sexuality. Any attempt to limit marriage to a man and a woman would therefore limit its universality so O'Brien is the one attempting to subvert it not its supporters.
I happen to think that same-sex marriage represents a welcome extension of an accepted human right to make it truly universal. To me, the fact that the people concerned are in love and want to marry is enough; their gender is irrelevant. I cannot believe that heterosexual mariage will be undermined by this extension:
"Morning, our lass, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. The wedding's off - I've decided to marry Big Larry from the Dog & Duck just because I can".
Can't really see that happening. Mind you, I expect gay weddings would be far more fun than heterosexual weddings, with better dresses and far more flowers.
This intervention comes hot on the heels of a number of public figures complaining that religious people are under the cosh from rampant and brutal atheists/secularists (Professor Richard Dawkins mainly). Baroness Warsi, co-chair of the Conservative Party, recently warned, in a speech at the Vatican (go to Narnia and turn left), that British society was under threat from a wave of "militant secularists." She was moved to say this after 20 Christians were burnt at the stake at Smithfield. Once again, that was how "militant Christianity" used to behave - not quite the same level of severity, is it?
Militant secularist leads Warsi to her gruesome fate at the stake
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