What cheek do you want me to turn?

"First the army, now marriage? Why do gays want in on all our worst institutions?" source

The following articles refers to attitudes to same-sex marriage, as opposed to the current situation where same-sex couples can enter into civil partnerships. In the U.K. Civil partnerships have a similar legal effect to marriage itself, although it is not officially approved of by the Church as a marriage before God. Great debate has gone on towards allowing same-sex marriages, and this debate has become more prominent after comments by Cardinal O'Brein, the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the United Kingdom. O'Brein said that the idea of redefining marriage to include homosexuals would "shame the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world." I don't think it would. Here's why:

I think that legalising gay marriage would show the world that the United Kingdom, even under a mean-spirited, over-privileged Prime Minister like Cameron, is still determined to allow everyone the right to marry. Britain is still a reasonably large player on the global scale and this acknowledgement of rights would be important for global development towards genuine equality. 

In the same speech O'Brein said that same-sex unions are a "grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right." I don't think he understands what a universal human right is, because it means a right which applies to all people, including- you guessed it- the gays. This either suggests that he thinks that homosexuals aren't humans, or that "universal human rights" only apply to heterosexuals. Either way, it's perhaps not the best way to show the empathy and compassion which are basic tenants of the Catholic faith. At very least, why someone who has taken a vow of chastity is commenting on sexual habits of others is beyond me. Perhaps he could explain to us how his god made homosexuals in order for you to deprive them of rights and to discriminate against?

Speaking of violation of human rights, I believe that it is a universally accepted right of people to grow up without being sexually assaulted by clergymen. There's a reason why Catholic and altar boy jokes have become cliche, because it has happened all over the world, again, and again and it has been like that for years. Child abuse is only practised by a tiny minority, it's not a tenant of the religion, and it disgusts most Catholic practisers as it does everyone else, but it does seem like the authorities of the Catholic Church should be the last people to take a moral high ground on homosexual activity.

Anyway, the whole thing came to a head last Sunday, when Roman Catholic churchgoers were read a letter telling them that "they have a duty" to ensure that same sex-marriage does not happen. It wasn't read out in every church service throughout the land, though it seems to have been read by a majority. The writers of this epistle, which is at very least intolerant, and at worst homophobic, were Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith, two men who have now dedicated their working lives to sharing their opposition to homosexual marriage.

You might think that there are bigger things for the church to worry about, not least the ongoing sex scandals which still crop up from time to time. This sentiment was also hinted at by Ben Summerskill of Stonewall, who stated "it's a shame Catholic church leaders are so deeply opposed to a 21st-century balance of rights that they're not reading out letters about serious issues such as the AIDS crisis in Africa or the 2.5 million people who live in poverty in this country" - While there are undoubtedly progressive parishes where these issues, and others like them, have been made manifest, it is notable that the central powers of the Church seem to be most interested stimying homosexual marriage. Instead of encouraging priests to preach about charity, compassion and empathy, they are encouraged to preach bigotry and discrimination. 

Nichols and Smith are the last people anyone should be listening to. When even more religious nations than the United Kingdom, notably Argentina, have legalised Gay Marriage, and when even a Conservative Government is making strides towards homosexual marriage, it would appear that the battle is lost. Ill-thought out attacks on homosexuals by O'Brein will only help swing public opinion further away from the Church. This disrespects the five million practisers of Catholicism in the U.K. The vast majority of Catholics in this country are doing good, charitable, responsible work and deeds, who tolerate and empathise with the small majority of the population who are gay and want to get married.