Same sex unions: Shaping the law

by Editor · August 13, 2003

The government�s new proposed policy on religion in education is the fruit of tough negotiations between an education minister instinctively inimical to religion on one side, and religious bodies willing to take a pragmatic route on the other. In this, the Catholic bishops played a major role, thanks mainly to the fine efforts of the Catholic Institute of Education.

While the final result may not represent the ideal from the Church�s point of view, its willingness to dialogue and negotiate has helped safeguard a role for religion in public schools. Moreover, it has also protected the Catholic ethos of publicly funded Catholic schools.

Likewise, education minister Kader Asmal deserves recognition for rising above his personal philosophy in acknowledging the fundamental necessity of religion in schools.

It is therefore difficult to understand the apparent intransigence of some evangelical Christian bodies who seem to have adopted an all-or-nothing approach. This combative strategy leaves no room for compromise. Had it been employed by every religious group, chances are that religion would have been sidelined altogether, and God banished from the classrooms.

The experience of the local Church�s engagement with the government are instructive in other arenas of influence, too.

As the democracies of the West increasingly look at ways of affording homosexual couples legal rights akin to those of traditional marriage, the Catholic Church must not take an all-or-nothing approach.

The document “Considerations regarding proposals to give legal recognition to unions between homosexual persons”, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in late July, clearly spells out the Vatican�s position on the matter of same sex unions. It is aimed mainly at politicians and lobbyists, such as national bishops� conferences. It says nothing new, and does so trenchantly. Predictably, its reception in the secular arena has been mostly cold.

As a civil body, the Church hierarchy is perfectly entitled to state its views on matters of concern. The CDF document has done this, so that no doubt should exist where the Vatican stands on the subject of same sex unions (although some bishops� conferences � Quebec springs to mind � may have reservations on some details).

The Church must be aware also, however, that legislators are mandated by those who elect them, not by points of personal conviction. Situations may arise when conflicts of faith may test the politician�s conscience. Same sex unions may be a case in point.

The matter of homosexuality is complicated further by grey areas in our understanding of the phenomenon. The Catechism acknowledges that homosexuals tend not to choose their sexual orientation, and the Vatican has rightly said that science has not provided any persuasive evidence that homosexuality is either genetic or acquired.

As a result, some Catholics may find it difficult to adopt as assured a stance as that reflected in the CDF document. Politicians may find this even more difficult.

It would be unfortunate if the Church were to let the document, which may be seen as taking an all-or-nothing approach, stand and speak for itself.

It seems inevitable that a growing numbers of countries will pass same sex union laws. The Church has a role to play in engaging lawmakers in a spirit of open dialogue to ensure that such laws will not run counter to what the Church has stated as one of its main concerns: that legislation governing same sex unions will not undermine the role of the traditional family as a cornerstone of society.

For the most part, the Church may not be able to halt the advent of legalised same sex unions. In accepting this reality and engaging politicians in dialogue, the Church can play a positive role in shaping such legislation.