Barry's Beef

It must be with a slice if irony that the word gay originally met happy, for happy and happiness are the same as joy and enjoyment; but today the subject comes up more and more: what rights and liberites are gays permitted to enjoy.
The most recent case being the right of gay couples to adopt children. In the past it has been the right of gays to have their relationships recognised on the statute book, the ordination of gay clergy, the raising of the age of consent for gays and before that the legalisation of homosexuality. It doesn't take a historian or sociologist to pick the common theme. Gay people's rights have been abused and abused again, time after time since time immemorial.
Couple A can give birth thanks too a straight sexually active relationship, Couple B cannot as they are in a same-sex relationship. Therefore, Couple A are blessed with children and couple B are cursed to be without children. This, of course, is irregardless of whether Couple A are a couple of paedophiles, alcoholics, murderers or Conservatives. So nature gives the straight couple the ability to give birth, it does not necessarily mean that the straight couple will be the better, or more equipped (emotionally rather than physically) for parenthood. It is as if nature has played its role and now turns its back on any possible negative repercussions.
So it is with interest that I see the Catholic Church's stance on gay adoption. Not for them, the musings of conscience and curiosity but rather a (sometimes) further developed view that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.
Of course, it is written in the Bible that homosexuality is a sin. I confess I have never read the Bible page to page (hey, take it easy I tried once but there were so many begots that I (be)got very bored and didn't make it through Genesis - strangely I have no time for the Gabriel/Collins variant of the first book of the Old Testament either) but I believe it is either written in plain English (translated from plain aramaic) or alluded to that homosexuality is a no-no. The problem being that the Bible is a man-made creation, it was written; and it was written by people with preconceptions of what a just and ideal society should be. For instance, if the Bible was written today it would be more reflective of equality between the sexes. This is where I begin to have issues with religion: because homosexuality is not wrong even if the people who wrote the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Koran, Book of Mormon whatever think it's wrong. The taboo of homosexuality is a reflex of the era in which these religious texts were conceived. And this is where you draw the line. There are homophobes and there are homophiles. Just because you are a homophobe does not mean you are going to try and cull every gay you come across in the same way that if you're a homophile you're not necessarily going to want to shag everyone of the same sex you come across.
Another common misconception is that in an ideal world, a child would be lovingly raised by a mother and a father. Ah, pish-posh. In an ideal world a child will be raised lovingly, brought up to achieve their full potential. Whether that child is raised in a conventional 2 point 4 children scenario, a gay relationship, a single parent family or by the Wu Tang Clan does not dictate any form of idealism. It is so easy to make these brash statements and generalisations, but they are so very flawed. If I, as a straight guy, have a kid and for the rest of my life lead a sin-filled life, a selfish pursuit of my own happiness (or happyness to induce Will Smith feel good Oscar nominee factor) does that mean that my kid is better off than being raised in a same-sex relationship? Of course not. Sure, I am taking extremes as examples, but it is these extremes that demonstrate the need to challenge these 'norms' that society has passed down from generation to generation.
Therefore, I draw the conclusion that it is no surprise that religion is becoming an ever-decreasing factor in people's life. It is because the tomes upon which organised religion is based singularly failed to reinvigorate themselves in line with the evolution of humankind's spiritual side.

Labels: Catholic Church, gay adoption