S
Soutane
Guest
Written by Michael Coren
Friday, 04 June 2010 07:50
A stranger stopped me in the street recently — being on television has certain side-effects. This man was pleasant and intelligent and wanted to discuss Catholicism.
“I can accept much of what your religion says,” he told me, “but I can’t for the life of me understand why you oppose same-sex marriage.”
I told him that there were biblical and sacramental reasons for marriage being only between one man and one woman but that Roman Catholic teaching was also based on natural law. This was not so much about the rights of a sexual minority but the status and meaning of marriage.
catholicregister.org/michael-coren/theres-a-certain-logic-about-the-family
Indeed the deconstruction of marriage began not with the gay community asking for the right to marry but with the heterosexual world rejecting marriage. The term “common-law marriage” said it all. Marriage is many things but it is never common. Yet with this semantic and legal revolution, desire and convenience replaced commitment and dedication. The qualifications, so to speak, were lowered.
And one does indeed have to qualify for marriage; just as one has, for example, to qualify for a pension or a military medal. People who have not reached the age of retirement don’t qualify for a pension, people who don’t serve in the armed forces don’t qualify for a military medal. It’s not a question of equality but requirement. A human right is intrinsic, a social institution is not.
Friday, 04 June 2010 07:50
A stranger stopped me in the street recently — being on television has certain side-effects. This man was pleasant and intelligent and wanted to discuss Catholicism.
“I can accept much of what your religion says,” he told me, “but I can’t for the life of me understand why you oppose same-sex marriage.”
I told him that there were biblical and sacramental reasons for marriage being only between one man and one woman but that Roman Catholic teaching was also based on natural law. This was not so much about the rights of a sexual minority but the status and meaning of marriage.
catholicregister.org/michael-coren/theres-a-certain-logic-about-the-family
Indeed the deconstruction of marriage began not with the gay community asking for the right to marry but with the heterosexual world rejecting marriage. The term “common-law marriage” said it all. Marriage is many things but it is never common. Yet with this semantic and legal revolution, desire and convenience replaced commitment and dedication. The qualifications, so to speak, were lowered.
And one does indeed have to qualify for marriage; just as one has, for example, to qualify for a pension or a military medal. People who have not reached the age of retirement don’t qualify for a pension, people who don’t serve in the armed forces don’t qualify for a military medal. It’s not a question of equality but requirement. A human right is intrinsic, a social institution is not.