Notes: Wednesday, November 30-Tuesday, December 6, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. Several recent articles on or relating to so-called Gay marriage

1.1 Dr. Walter on conscience votes and religion in politics

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/conscience-votes-corrupt-our-political-system-20111129-1o4tr.html?skin=text-only

I would like to write a rebuttal of that article but I don't have time, so I just want to consider one point here: Dr. Walter concludes by writing that "to judge legislation according to the requirements of religious belief is to avoid the discipline of public life, and we should loudly and clearly call this abuse of office". Now, how does Dr. Walter propose to remedy that "abuse" if the politician is, say, a Catholic who takes seriously the teaching of St. Pius X. in §24 of Pascendi?

Labels: Church and State, morality, secularism

1.2 Prof. Gaita on so-called Gay marriage

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/to-reject-gay-marriage-is-to-be-blind-to-our-common-humanity-20111130-1o6v7.html?skin=text-only

I log that as an example of the befuddlement which afflicts even the more learned advocates of so-called Gay marriage.

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, morality

1.3 "the Queensland parliament last [week] passed a bill that legalised civil unions for same-sex couples"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/alp-conference-set-to-endorse-same-sex-marriage/story-fnba0rxe-1226210968062

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/queensland-has-passed-a-bill-allowing-civil-unions-but-some-labor-mps-are-calling-for-gay-marriage/story-e6frgczx-1226210962614

Labels: civil partnerships, G.L.B.T., Queensland

1.4 Msgr. Nichols on "civil partnerships"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/11/the-archbisop-of-westminster-on-civil-unions/

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39895

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=29311

Labels: civil partnerships, G.L.B.T., marriage, morality, Vincent Nichols

1.5 "Labor voted overwhelmingly [last Saturday] to adopt marriage equality as its official policy - but granted a conscience vote to its MPs to avoid a damaging split"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-do-labor-to-gay-marriage-20111203-1ocpc.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Australian Labor, G.L.B.T., marriage

1.6 Mr. Wallace on the Gay lifestyle:

In demanding more money be spent on health for their community, Canadian gay activists have claimed that the system was homophobic in not taking into account: "lower life expectancy than the average Canadian, suicide, higher rates of substance abuse, depression, inadequate access to care and HIV-AIDS ... all kinds of health issues that are endemic to our community". No amount of sharp video promotion by GetUp! can make this lifestyle normal in light of its own facts.

The activists, of course, attributed all the negatives of the lifestyle to bullying or homophobia, including that a homosexual man has a life expectancy some 20 years less than the average male.

However the fact that he has 25-26 times the chance of contracting HIV compared with a heterosexual man must surely have more to do with it, as would the acknowledged higher incidence of drug abuse.

If our schools are concerned about discouraging smoking for its 7-10 year shortening of life, how can we in all honesty encourage a lifestyle for men that shortens it on average by double that? But promotion of the lifestyle this has become.
[ellipsis in the original,
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/its-wrong-to-promote-a-dangerous-lifestyle/story-e6frgd0x-1226212590213]

Labels: G.L.B.T., H.I.V./A.I.D.S., health

1.7 "Same sex adoption is not a game"

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/same_sex_adoption_is_not_a_game

(That came to my attention via this Cath Pews post.)

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., morality

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Nicholas, Bishop, Confessor, A.D. 2011