Notes: Tuesday, January 1-Tuesday, February 12, 2013 (part 2 of 2)

9. Part of the reason why women can't be priests:

From the Holy Father's Angelus address in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, January 20, 2013 (His Holiness was speaking in a different context than the ineligibility of women for ordination, but the following is, as you'll see, nevertheless applicable to it):

… With this “sign”[, i.e., the sign of the miracle of the transformation of water into wine at the wedding at Cana,] Jesus revealed himself as the messianic Bridegroom come to establish with his people the new and eternal covenant, in accordance with the prophets’ words: “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Is 62:5). Moreover, wine is a symbol of this joy of love; but it also alludes to the blood that Jesus was to pour out at the end to seal his nuptial pact with humanity.

The Church is the Bride of Christ who makes her holy and beautiful with his grace. …
[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/angelus/2013/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20130120_en.html]

Labels: womenpriests

10. "I[, Kristina Keneally,] object in conscience to the Church's teachings on women, homosexuality and contraception."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Talking to children about the Royal Commission", by The Hon. Kristina Keneally, dated November 22, 2012, downloaded from the Eureka Street website ("A publication of Jesuit Communications Australia"):

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=34263

Labels: Kristina Keneally

11. RU486 "is on the World Health Organisation list of essential medicines"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Push for abortion drugs to cost less than $12", by Linda Silmalis, dated January 31, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/push-for-abortion-drugs-to-cost-less-than-12/story-e6freuy9-1226565413699

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline and with the same byline on p. 09 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Thursday, January 31, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2760, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: abortion, U.N.O.

12. Mr. Creighton on the proportions in which the members of different income quintiles contribute towards public finance and the proportions in which it is distributed among them

See the article "Rich are paying their fair share, and then some", by Adam Creighton, dated February 2, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/rich-are-paying-their-fair-share-and-then-some/story-fn59niix-1226567054479

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline and with the same byline on p. 15 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, February 2-3, 2013, First Edition, No. 15031, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: economics, justice, taxation

13. "In the beginning our work was the conversion of the Jews, but after the Holocaust we realised no, we don’t go out to convert people, we should have Jewish-Christian relations."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Catholics honoured for service to nation", by Sharyn McCowen and Damir Govorcin, dated February 3, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=1&subclassID=2&articleID=11625&class=Latest News&subclass=CW National

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline and with the same byline on pp. 1 and 5 (p. 5's part of the article was headlined "Aust Day honours for Catholics") of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, February 3, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4658, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: inter-religious dialogue, Jews, N.D.S.

14. "The Vatican is spearheading the initiative to study the construction and painting techniques of sarcophagi during Egypt's so-called Third Intermediate Period, which was 3,000 years ago."

The quotation in that headline comes from the Catholic News Service (C.N.S.) article "Vatican mummy health check: It's never too late for an endoscopy", by Carol Glatz, dated January 18, 2013, downloaded from the C.N.S.'s website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1300235.htm

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Mummy check-up finds 'she' is a 'he'", by the same author, on p. 22 (the "Vatican Letter, Classifieds" page) of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, February 3, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4658, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd. "Mummy check-up finds 'she' is a 'he'" is available on-line under the same headline as at the C.N.S. website, by the same author, dated January 21, 2013, at The Catholic Weekly's website here:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=1&subclassID=84&articleID=11578&class=Latest%20News&subclass=Breaking%20News)

Labels: Egypt, Vatican Museums

15. "the Catholic Church opposes legal sanctions against homosexuality and favors legal protections for unmarried people living together"

The quotation in that headline comes from the Catholic News Service (C.N.S.) article "Defend traditional family, rights of others, archbishop says", by Cindy Wooden, dated February 4, 2013, downloaded from the C.N.S. website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1300458.htm

That C.N.S. article reports that Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family (who is apparently also a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation),

said the Catholic Church affirms "the equal dignity of every child of God. No one lacks the dignity of being a child of God, so that is untouchable."

While the church opposes recognizing gay unions as "marriage," he said, it affirms the full dignity of homosexual men and women. "If a country outlawed homosexuality, I would work to overturn it," he said, adding that he believed there are still "20 or 25 countries" that define homosexuality as a crime.

Archbishop Paglia also called for greater efforts to ensure legal protection and inheritance rights for people who are living together, but not married. "To promote justice and to protect the weak," he said, legal means must be found to guarantee rights and regulate inheritance.

"But do not call it marriage," he said.

For discussion on Msgr. Paglia's remarks, see this AQ thread, this Fish Eaters Traditional Catholic Forum thread, this CathInfo.com Traditional Catholic Forum thread, and the comments section of this Rorate Cæli post. For follow-up material, see this Rorate Cæli post and this LifeSiteNews.com report.

(Msgr. Paglia's remarks came to my attention via the article "We must defend marriage: Vatican", by Cindy Wooden, on p. 7 (the "World News" page) of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, February 10, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4659, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd. An online version of that article is available under the headline "We must defend marriage: Vatican Church[ sic]", with the same byline and date, at The Catholic Weekly's website here.)

Labels: civil unions, crime, G.L.B.T., Roman Curia, vice, Vincenzo Paglia

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, Confessors, A.D. 2013

Notes: Wednesday, August 15-Wednesday, August 29, 2012

1. Miss Edwards on Msgr. O'Kelly's "attack[ on] the Vatican action on the US Leadership Conference of Women Religious"

See "Bishop O'Kelly attacks Vatican intervention on US nuns", Tuesday, August 21, 2012, a post by Miss Kate Edwards at her Australia Incognita blog, available here:

http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2012/08/bishop-okelly-attacks-vatican.html

Labels: Greg O'Kelly

2. Msgr. Fisher on an under-discussed injustice involved in legalising so-called Gay marriage:

… What is also unjust is retrospectively to redefine marriage: for that tells those already married that they got married on a false premise; that they were wrong to think they were entering a lifelong and exclusive partnership of a man and woman open to raising children; that we have changed the meaning of their vows to being merely about loving each other, for as long as it lasts. That would be unjust to the many people already married and those who might like to be in the future.
[That quotation comes from the sermon of The Lord Bishop of Parramatta at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta, on Sunday, August 12, 2012, the text of which is available on-line here:
http://www.parra.catholic.org.au/bishop-of-parramatta/most-rev-anthony-fisher-op/the-bishop-s-homilies.aspx/the-homilies-of-bishop-anthony-fisher/homily----marriage-sunday---19th-sunday-of-ordinary-time-year-b--st-patrick-s-cathedral--parramatta-.aspx
(That text came to my attention via its printing under the headline "Kindness, self-sacrifice — not grudges, bullying" on p. 14 of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, Vol. 71, No. 4635, August 19, 2012.)]

Labels: law, marriage

3. More on the Federal Government's policy of giving some of the benefits involved with de ivre marriage to de facto polygamists

See the "Guide to Social Security Law", Version 1.189 (released August 10, 2012), Part 2, Chapter 2.2, Section 2.2.5, 2.2.5.15 Multiple Relationships, from the Australian Federal Government's Department of Families, Housing, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs, © Commonwealth of Australia 2012, available here:

http://guidesacts.fahcsia.gov.au/guides_acts/ssg/ssguide-2/ssguide-2.2/ssguide-2.2.5/pc_13794.html

(That came to my attention via this blog post by Terra.)

I love the bluntness of that guide:

For example, the relationships could comprise a claimant/recipient with any combination of male or female partners.

See also item 2.1 of this Notes post.

Labels: law, marriage, polyamory

4. "A 1996 study by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology pointed out that an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape in the United States each year"; "[t]he journal said the average national rape-related pregnancy rate stood at five percent among victims aged between 12 to 45."

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Fury over Republican candidate's 'legitimate rape' comment", August 20, 2012, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/us-election/republican-senate-candidate-todd-akin-says-rape-victims-becoming-pregnant-rare/story-fn95xh4y-1226453854274

Labels: pregnancy

5. In Australia, "polling on the topic[ of "same-sex marriage"] began in 2009"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "MPs to debate same-sex marriage bill", by Jessica Wright, dated August 20, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/mps-to-debate-samesex-marriage-bill-20120820-24hcy.html?skin=text-only

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, opinion polls

6. "A spokesman for Julie Bishop, the opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, said there was no Coalition policy to change existing arrangements" regarding "Australia's overseas aid assistance for family planning in low-income countries" doubling "to more than $50 million a year by 2016, up from $26 million in 2010 and $2 million under the Howard government"

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Family planning aid vote stirs opposition", by Richard Willingham (though the second quotation comes ultimately from Senator Lee Rhiannon), dated August 17, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/family-planning-aid-vote-stirs-opposition-20120816-24bgh.html?skin=text-only

There is a difference, of course, between not having a policy to change certain arrangements, and having a policy not to change those arrangements; is it only the former for the Coalition, or is it the latter (and hence the former too, of course, unless the Coalition's policy platform contains an internal contradiction)? (I don't ask that rhetorically.)

Labels: abortion, contraception, Liberal Party, Nationals

7. "as a legislator I[, Kristina Keneally,] always took the view that it[, viz. abortion,] should be safe and legally available"

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Democracy has a nice habit of giving lunatic fringe a haircut", by The Hon. Kristina Keneally, dated August 22, 2012, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/democracy-has-a-nice-habit-of-giving-lunatic-fringe-a-haircut/story-e6frezz0-1226455247529

(That opinion piece came to my attention via its printing under the same headline and by the same author on p. 13 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, August 22, 2012, Vol. 1, No. 2623, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

It's interesting that Ms Keneally omits from that statement, and indeed from her whole opinion piece, the third part of the usual 'safe, legal, and rare' triad of the moderate abortionite.

Labels: abortion, Kristina Keneally

8. "It is now very difficult to point to any state, territory or federal law where getting legally married makes a difference compared with a same-sex or opposite-sex couple who have lived together in a de facto relationship for two years or more, or who have registered their relationship. As a consequence, the right to marry carries little significance in law other than imposing a need to get a formal divorce before marrying someone else."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "About time we all cared more about marriage", by Prof. Patrick Parkinson, dated August 24, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/about-time-we-all-cared-more-about-marriage-20120823-24p2g.html?skin=text-only

Labels: law, marriage

9. Some figures on childcare in Australia

See Child Care Update, September quarter 2011. Dated August 2012 (presumably released on the twenty-fifth). Produced by the Australian Federal Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations on behalf of the Australian Government and published by the same Department. © Commonwealth of Australia, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-642-78431-5

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Earlychildhood/Resources/Documents/ChildCareUpdateAug.pdf

(That publication came to my attention via the article "Million kids in care 'shows system works'", by Patricia Karvelas, on p. 6 in "THE NATION" section of The Weekend Australian, August 25-26, 2012, First Edition, No. 14895, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited; available on-line, but behind a paywall, under the same headline, by the same author, and dated August 25, 2012, at The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/million-kids-in-care-shows-system-works/story-fn59niix-1226457727663)

Labels: childcare

10. "The head of the Russian Orthodox Church and the president of the Polish Catholic bishops' conference signed a joint message Aug. 17 urging Poles and Russians to set aside centuries of anger and prejudice and work together to maintain their countries' Christian identities."

The quotation in that headline comes from the Catholic News Service article "Russian Orthodox, Polish Catholic leader sign appeal for reconciliation":

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1203472.htm

(That joint message came to my attention via the article "Russian-Polish reconciliation bid", no by-line, on p. 7 of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, August 26, 2012, Vol. 71, No. 4636.)

Zenit has a Vatican Radio translation of the joint message here. The Russian Orthodox Church's Department for External Church Relations (D.E.C.R.) Communication Service says, on this page at the official D.E.C.R. website that the message "cannot be ranked among theological or inter-church documents and does not deal with doctrinal matters".

Labels: R.O.C.

11. Gay activists in new initiative for promoting "healthy, respectful relationships" "in sport and the workplace" between non-Gays and themselves (presumably while remaining in unhealthy, disrespectful relationships with their respective Gay passivists)

See "AFL declares war on homophobia to stamp out ugly slurs", by Aaron Langmaid, dated August 28, 2012, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/afl-to-stamp-out-gay-slurs/story-e6frexx0-1226459402572

(That article came to my attention via the shorter version of it which was published under the headline "Footballers tackle homophobia and save lives", by the same author, on p. 05 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, August 28, 2012, Vol. 1, No. 2628, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., No to Homophobia

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Decollation of St. John the Baptist, and the feast of St. Sabina, Widow, Martyr, A.D. 2012

Notes: Friday-Monday, January 7-10, 2011

1. Some figures on attitudes of Jews living in the State of Israel towards non-Jews

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35446

Labels: Jews, State of Israel

2. Ms Keneally is pro-abortion?

I was surprised to read the following in the on-line version of an article from last Sunday's Sydney Sunday Telegraph:

[The Hon. Kristina Keneally M.P., N.S.W. Premier] said she disagreed with the Catholic church on some points and with some of its social teachings, including the church's views on abortion.
[http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/premiers-unholy-row-with-cardinal/story-fn6bm90q-1225984274530]

My understanding was that Catholic teaching on abortion was one of the teachings to which she assented. Was this understanding incorrect?

Labels: abortion, Kristina Keneally, Magisterium, morality

3. More from Mr. Pearson on euthanasia

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/right-of-reply-on-right-to-die/story-e6frg6zo-1225983866944

Excerpts:

Ina Borger of Marion, SA, suggests the editor tell me "the inquisition happened a long time ago" and says she doesn't need me "or the pope to make my mind up". This is a gambit known in contemporary politics as "playing the secularist card". It invites disdain towards a policy position because of the advocate's religious affiliation, without entering into debate about the merits of the (in this case, rational rather than faith-based) argument.

[...] Last May the Canadian Medical Association published two important articles on recent experience in the Flemish region of Belgium. The first surveyed doctors involved in euthanasia and found that 66 cases out of a total of 208, or 32 per cent, were without explicit request or consent of the patient.

Of course some of the patients were babies with profound disabilities, as well as other categories, including dementia sufferers. In 77.9 per cent of cases of death without consent or explicit request, the decision was not discussed with the patient. The second study, involving nurses in the same region participating in euthanasia, found that 120 of 248 cases, or 45 per cent, were without explicit request or consent.

Labels: euthanasia, morality, secularism

4. Mrs. Livingstone on, among other things, Sunday Mass attendance by Australian Catholics and Australian Sees to get new Ordinaries as early as this year

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/church-calls-the-unfaithful-home/story-e6frg6zo-1225983253582

Excerpt:

... The most recent Australian survey of mass attendance, in 2006, found the number of Catholics attending weekly had fallen to 13.8 per cent.

The episcopal chess board is set for big changes this year with three senior archbishops - John Bathersby in Brisbane, Adrian Doyle in Hobart and Barry Hickey in Perth - turning 75, the retirement age for bishops. A replacement will also be appointed for Sandhurst bishop Joseph Grech, 62, who died in December.

Labels: liturgy

5. Mrs. Shanahan on, among other things, The Greens' policy on relationship recognition

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/greens-are-the-biggest-catastrophe/story-e6frg6zo-1225983252139

Excerpt:

So, for example, with gay marriage - which will obviously take up a fair bit of parliamentary time and effort and popular anxiety, and is meant to cement the Greens' credentials as the party of forward-looking tolerance - there is actually a different agenda. Again, according to the official website, the policy encompasses a bizarre demand that all sexual permutations be given legal relationship status.

In fact, so many sexual permutations are mentioned in this policy - intersex, intrasex and transsexual, up down and round about - that this average heterosexual mum finds it difficult to follow, or to take seriously.

Does the policy include polygamy, I wonder?

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

6. "Shock: 41% of New York City Pregnancies End in [surgical] Abortion"

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=393796&sid=473c6f23a2aaeeba69db224013743e02

Labels: abortion, morality, N.Y.C.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Hyginus, Pope, Martyr, A.D. 2011

Notes: Thursday, July 1, 2010

Herald letters on Ms Gillard's opposition to so-called gay marriage and on Ms Keneally's support for adoption by same-sex couples

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/gillard-needs-to-get-it-straight-on-gay-marriage-20100630-zmnw.html?skin=text-only

Interesting to read the following sentence from one of the correspondents:

Marriage equality will come to Australia in time, and Ms Gillard, Kristina Keneally, Tony Abbott and their ilk will be remembered as having been on the wrong side of history as the last defenders of this historic injustice and breach of civil rights.

Note two things there: The terms '[m]arriage equality' and 'wrong side of history'. Each of these terms is a part of the Sodomites' League's rhetorical repertory in discussions on so-called gay marriage; the former is in the name of an Australian pro-'gay-marriage' lobby organisation "Australian Marriage Equality" (whose website's F.A.Q. answers I refuted here), and a pro-real-marriage person--I'm not sure, but it might have been Prof. Robert George--predicted that we will see the latter used repeatedly by the Sodomites' League. Both these pieces of rhetoric are easy to refute though: As for the former, homosexuals already have complete marriage equality with heterosexuals, and as for the latter, the fact that something is on the 'wrong' or 'right side of history' is neither here nor there; what matters is whether it is logically and morally valid. One can easily imagine, say, the Bolsheviks warning their opponents about being on the 'wrong side of history', especially given the Marxist view of the stages of history, as they rose to power, but that doesn't make Bolshevism a good thing.

"John" with some information from MercatorNet about same-sex parenting

http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/thread/1277854467.html
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_other_story_about_same-sex_parenting/

Two of "John"'s excerpts from the article were particularly noteworthy:

Research is increasingly clear that many lesbigay partners enter into their versions of a committed relationship with expectations that cheating is acceptable. Some research suggests that gay men have more stable relationships only if cheating is permitted.

and

Richard Redding, writing in a 2008 issue of the Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy, concluded that gay parents were more likely to have gay children. My meta-analyses of 26 studies and ten books on GLBT parenting concur with his findings (Schumm, in press). Furthermore, my research indicates that many literature reviews have systematically excluded information about negative child outcomes associated with gay parenting -- that is, greater levels of insecure attachment and drug abuse among daughters of gay fathers.

Neither of these findings should come as suprises; as regards the former, as even the "homosexual advocate and intellectual" Mr. Andrew Sullivan has acknowledged, "[t]here is more likely to be greater understanding of the need for extramarital outlets between two men than between a man and a woman" (cited in the submission from The Archdiocese of Sydney to the N.S.W. Inquiry into adoption by same-sex couples, p. 5, section 17--go hither in order to download the P.D.F. submission) (and didn't you just love the paradox of "gay men hav[ing] more stable relationships only if cheating is permitted"?!).

A letter to the Tele on the natural law

I was pleased to see the following letter published on page thirty-four of yesterday's Sydney Daily Telegraph (apparently not available on-line, so the following is my own transcription), in a collection of letters under the heading "Waiting to see what this PM can do for us", with "Keep it personal" as the letter's own heading:

I AGREE with David Ridge (Your Say, June 29) that a politician should not push their [sic] religious views on to the general public.
However, every politician has a duty to uphold the natural law in all things, irrespective of their religious leanings or lack of.
In respect to abortion, natural law dictates that human life is sacrosanct from its embryotic [sic] beginning through to its natural or accidental demise, and any deliberate and intentional extinction of this life is a crime against nature.
Again, the erosion of human rights -- partiuclarly against women -- is in defiance of the natural law.
All people, irrespective of race, colour or religion are equal.
They may have different natural roles to play, but all people are entitled to the same respect. Because a politician is a member of a particular religion does not mean they are pushing their religious convictions politically.
All Christian religions have their basis in the natural law.
Tony Byrne Whitebridge

Obviously the letter wasn't perfect (for instance, the natural law does not forbid all deliberate and intentional destruction of human life, just the destruction of innocent human life on human authority), but I was nevertheless pleased to see it published, for a couple of reasons:

1. One problem with arguing for the morality or immorality of a certain act by appeal to 'traditional morality/ethics/values', 'Christian morality/ethics/values', or, most problematically of all, 'Judeo-Christian morality/ethics/values', is that one's opponent can simply dismiss one's reasoning as being perhaps internally consistent, but nevertheless not valid for those who are don't belong to that tradition or religion. (See this blog post, and particularly its combox, for examples.)

2. It's also just nice to see the natural law being mentioned in the mainstream media, in which we usually see 'traditional/Christian/Judeo-Christian morality/ethics/values' pitted against 'secular/non-religious morality/ethics/values', when we would do better to speak of the contest as being between natural-law morality and positivist (a/im)morality.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, A.D. 2010

On the Adoption Amendment (Same Sex Couples) Bill 2010

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/hanstrans.nsf/V3ByKey/LA20100624

Here's what Cr. Clover Moore M.P. had to say when she moved "That this bill be now agreed to in principle":

My Adoption Amendment (Same Sex Couples) Bill will make same-sex couples legally eligible to adopt. It will provide for the introduction of a second-parent adoption provision similar to the existing step-parent adoption provision, and allow same-sex couples to be assessed for adoption as a couple. Importantly, under the bill, adoption laws would treat families headed by same-sex couples in the same way as families headed by heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory already have these rights. Specifically, the bill changes the definitions for "couple" and "spouse" provided in the Adoption Act from "a man and a woman who are married or who have a de facto relationship" to "persons who are de facto partners, whether they are of the same or opposite sex".

So it's what the recent Inquiry into adoption by same-sex couples recently recommended but which the Government declined to pursue. Saturday's edition of the Herald and yesterday's edition of The Punch each carried opinion pieces, both of them rubbish, in favour of the move, and as far as I know none of Sydney's mainstream media have run any articles against the move, though it was pleasing to see a good number of comments against it in the combox at that piece at The Punch. If I had more time I'd write a post refuting the arguments of Cr. Moore, Ms Pryor, and Mr. Raj, but I don't, so refer to the contents of this blog's "G.L.B.T." tag, and in particular the end of this post, for the case against adoption by same-sex couples. (In an nutshell, though: It is to be rejected for the good--chiefly the complementary influence of parents of both sexes--of which it deprives children and for the evil--chiefly the bad moral example, the scandal, which the lifestyle of two people living in open defiance of the natural law inflicts on the children in their care--in which it immerses the children involved.)

Meanwhile, New South Wales's "devout Catholic" Premier, The Hon. Kristina Keneally M.P., has the following to say on the matter:

"My religious views do not play a part in the legislation that I as a leader of the Labor Party bring before the government," she said.

"If I look at the gospel message it is one of acceptance, it is one of love ... Jesus sat with the sinners and the saints and he was not a man of judgment but rather a man of love".
[http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/keneally-says-religion-wont-impact-bill-20100628-ze83.html]

But even that wasn't politically correct enough!

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally under fire over religious parable

AAP June 28, 2010 3:31PM

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally says she didn't mean to compare homosexuals to "sinners" in a religious parable.

The devout Catholic was answering questions about the same-sex adoption Bill, introduced to Parliament last week by independent MP and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

Today, she reaffirmed her "in principle" support for the bill and said she would allow Labor MPs a conscience vote.

When asked to reconcile her progressive view on adoption with her religious background, she replied: "Jesus sat with the sinners and the saints and he was not a man of judgment but rather a man of love".

The Premier was later forced to clarify her position, saying her choice of words was not a direct comparison between "sinners" and same-sex couples.

"That's not all what I meant to say," she said.

"My point is this - is that Jesus loved all. He loved all and he accepted all. And for me that is the strongest message that comes out of the gospel." [...]
[http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/nsw-premier-kristina-keneally-under-fire-over-religious-parable/story-e6freuyi-1225885280698
See also
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/come-in-sinners-keneallys-gay-slip-20100628-zf9d.html?skin=text-only]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, Apostles, A.D. 2010