{"id":4094,"date":"2010-05-16T07:30:03","date_gmt":"2010-05-16T11:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/?p=4094"},"modified":"2010-05-16T08:34:06","modified_gmt":"2010-05-16T12:34:06","slug":"re-forming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/2010\/05\/16\/re-forming\/","title":{"rendered":"faith…"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gay marriage and abortion are ‘insidious challenge to society’ says Pope<\/a>
TIMES<\/font>ONLINE<\/font><\/strong>
by Richard Owen, Fatima and Ruth Gledhill
May 14, 2010 <\/div>\n

Pope Benedict XVI yesterday condemned gay marriage and abortion as “among the most insidious and dangerous challenges” to society<\/font><\/strong>. Speaking on a visit to Portugal, which is preparing to legalise same-sex partnerships, the Pontiff also criticised Catholics who are ashamed of their faith and too willing to “lend a hand to secularism.” The gay marriage legislation was recently passed by the Portuguese parliament and is due to be signed into law next week by President Anibal Cavaco Silva, a conservative Catholic. Ninety per cent of Portuguese define themselves as Catholic but Portuguese society is increasingly secular, with well under a third saying they attend mass regularly…<\/p>\n

Meeting Catholic charity workers at the shrine, the Pope called for “defence of life” and “indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman” in response to what he described as the dangerous threats of gay marriage and abortion<\/font><\/strong>. He offered his thanks to those who helped people “wounded by the drama of abortion”. His words will be studied in Britain where Catholics prepare for their own visit by the Pope in September. In the pre-election television debates, David Cameron said he disagreed with the Pope’s teaching on homosexuality. The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg indicated he agreed with Mr Cameron…<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Independent of one’s thoughts on either of these issues, gay marriage and abortion, it’s hard to figure how they are among the most insidious and dangerous challenges<\/em> to society<\/em>. This kind of talk cannot be grounded in a rational look at our society that I understand – particularly the issue of gay marriage. It seems likely that the actual point is more apparent in this statement: the Pontiff also criticized Catholics who are ashamed of their faith and too willing to lend a hand to secularism<\/em>.<\/div>\n

Once, long ago, before the in vogue epithet was liberal<\/em>, someone said to me, "you secular humanists all think<\/em>…" I had never heard the term before. I was in a club that I didn’t know existed – the secular humanist<\/em> club. It was in the days before the Internet, so it was a while before I ran across the meaning of the term. Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that espouses reason, ethics, and justice, and specifically rejects the supernatural and religious dogma as the basis of morality and decision-making <\/em>[sounds good to me]. <\/em>I’ve since heard it frequently, but never as anything but a slur. It’s a way of defining an enemy as if it is a cohesive group. Well, there may be secular humanists meeting on the sly, but I’ve never heard of them. It means someone who isn’t religious or doesn’t look to religious dogma for answers [which is a lot of us].<\/p>\n

There’s something else in the Pope’s statement besides the invective – secularism<\/em>. He says the reason some Catholics might support abortion or gay marriage is that they are ashamed of their faith<\/em>. In his scenario:<\/div>\n