Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Malta, divorce, and the Catholic Church

The voters of Malta have voted to legalize divorce in that country. The Catholic Church campaigned against legalization of divorce:
"By this vote the citizen will either build or destroy," the letter said.

"A choice in favour of permanent marriage is an act of faith in the family, built upon a bond of love which cannot be severed."

The anti-divorce movement's campaign attempted to capitalise on these traditional Catholic concerns, posting billboards around the country which said, "Jesus Christ - yes; divorce - no".
Here in America, where that particular ship sailed away a long time ago, the Church uses similar arguments against same-sex marriage. You'd almost think that moralizers who used religion as a pretext for social control tailored their immutable and universal moral principles to whatever they thought they could get away with in each time and place. Unsurprisingly, Catholics who oppose marriage equality do not appreciate having such things pointed out to them.

1 comment:

Lyle said...

Oh, I just can't imagine why the Catholics hate having their folly pointed out to them... nothing like the church trying to guilt-trip you into sticking with a horrible marriage. *rolls eyes*. I, for one, am of the opinion that marriage has very little to do with religion. Sure, you can make it religious if you want, but for the most part you're basically just saying "I'm willing to put up with your crap if you're willing to put up with mine" to something you share mutual ideas with.