The lengths that the Roman Catholic Church will go to demonize gays and attempt to block LGBT equality under the civil laws is startling. Now, faced with the likelihood that the United Kingdom will soon enact marriage equality legislation, some 1,054 Catholic priests, 13 Catholic bishops and assorted Catholic abbots have signed a letter claiming that legalizing marriage equality in the UK is the greatest threat to religious freedom and Catholicism since the Reformation. Would that these bigots would put as much effort into demanding a thorough housecleaning of the Church of child rapist priests and their protectors. Or that they would recall that the Reformation was fueled by the Church's corruption and desire to deprive individuals of religious freedom and freedom of conscience. The hypocrisy is stunning. The Daily Mail looks at this disingenuous batshitery. Here are highlights:
More than 1000 priests have signed a letter voicing concerns about how same-sex marriage will threaten religious freedoms and may even lead to Catholics being excluded from jobs.
In the letter, which is one of the biggest open letters of its type ever written, the priests claim that same-sex marriage could threaten freedoms in a way that was last seen during centuries of persecution of Catholics in England.
The letter, signed by 1054 priests as well as 13 bishops, abbots and other senior Catholic figures, expresses fears that the simple acts of practising or speaking about their faith will be severely limited.
Published in The Daily Telegraph, the letter goes as far as to compare David Cameron's proposed changes to the meaning of marriage to those of Henry VIII, whose efforts to divorce Catherine of Aragon sparked centuries of upheaval between Church and State.
It said: 'After centuries of persecution, Catholics have, in recent times, been able to be members of the professions and participate fully in the life of this country.'Legislation for same-sex marriage, should it be enacted, will have many legal consequences, severely restricting the ability of Catholics to teach the truth about marriage in their schools, charitable institutions or places of worship.
'It is meaningless to argue that Catholics and others may still teach their beliefs about marriage in schools and other arenas if they are also expected to uphold the opposite view at the same time.'
A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: 'We have been very clear that our plans for equal marriage will fully protect the freedom of religions bodies to preach, teach and put into practice their beliefs about marriage.'
The real root of the uproar by these bigots and homophobes and their allies within the Church of England is that they will no longer be able to force their religious beliefs on all other citizens. With the Roman Catholic Church - as is always the case - it's about power and control over others and a mindset that it is above the laws be they laws against the sexual abuse of minors or civil law marriage.
No comments:
Post a Comment