Now that Anglicans, Catholics and Muslims (and others) have joined together to protect the 'conscience' of their respective flocks and their 'freedom' to be..(wait for it)..homophobic....we now know the truth about religion (it is clear for all to see).
There is no point trying to claim it is just hardliners and extremists within religion that are homophobic (as some have), we are talking here about the Archbishop of Canterbury and the full might of the Catholic Church being brought to bear on a PM and Labour leadership renowned for its political cowardice. To their credit for once, this time the government has resisted the PM's demands for political expediency and not caved in.
These religion's argument (if you can call it that) is ridiculous.
Imagine if someone said 'it is my right to discriminate against black people, you can't overide my conscience'. I mean I'm sure this argument was used in the 1950's and 1960's and probably won some support then. Now it would be seen for what it is - a bigoted piece of idiocy. The current argument of the organised religions is the same piece of bigoted idiocy against gay people and it should be exposed as just that.
UPDATE: If rumours are true, Alan Johnson and Peter Hain were considering resigning if Blair hadn't backed down over this. I am going to post my views on the deputy leadership soon. I would like to know where all the candidates stand on this issue.
A mention also for Andrew and Tom who have written fine posts on this.
Er, kind of with you, but it's obviously important to distinguish between the church and religion as a concept. So what you mean is 'the religious institutions are homophobic'. Religious people, on the other hand, may very well not be - certainly none of my religious friends are.
ReplyDeleteSo Peter Hain wasn't prepared to join Robin Cook and resign over the Iraq war but he let's it be known he was prepared to resign over Church exemptions for gay adoption! How principled! Anyone would think a Labour deputy leadership contest was on the horizon!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's pretty contemptible to hear archbishops saying that the children's interests must come first, rather than some piece of ideology - and then adding that if they can't turn gay couples away, they'll be 'forced' to stop helping those children.
ReplyDeletejonathon: How many religious people do not align with one religious institution or another?
ReplyDeleteIt is akin to being a member of the Nazi party and then saying it is the Nazi party at fault not the Nazi beliefs. People forget that there were plenty of people in the Nazis who didn't agree with their most extreme ideology, that didn't mean it was alright to be a Nazi. I am not letting you get away with that cop out.
snafu: So because Peter Hain didn't threaten to resign over Iraq, he cannot threaten to resign over this? Have you ever thought that he might feel more aggrieved over this than he did over Iraq. After living in South Africa, Peter Hain knows the horrors of discrimination first hand.
Tom: The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Catholic Church and anybody who argues for discrimination are scum! It is as simple as that.
Hi Neil,
ReplyDeleteOf course many religious people have an attachment to religious institutions, but that doesn't mean they should be taken to mean the same thing. Your example isn't really appropriate:
"It is akin to being a member of the Nazi party and then saying it is the Nazi party at fault not the Nazi beliefs".
You're affiliated to the Labour party, no? I don't suppose that means you agree with the party over every issue. Iraq? ID cards? I don't blame you, nor the average labour party member, for the actions of Tony Blair. I wouldn't go round saying "The Truth Is Out: The Labour Party are War Criminals", as it's plainly not true. I suspect the same could be said of your statement, as much as it's tempting to reach the same conclusion.
jonathan: "I wouldn't go round saying "The Truth Is Out: The Labour Party are War Criminals", as it's plainly not true."
ReplyDeleteI disagreed over Iraq but there was a legitimate argument to be made for and against. There is no legitimate argument for homophobia just as there is no legitimate argument for racism. It is different.