A rchive Date
[ 14-08-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/woodcock.html
Foes of same-sex marriage aren't all bigots
By CONNIE WOODCOCK -- Toronto Sun
August 10, 2003
I wish I had a dollar for every letter I've received that calls me an intolerant old (rhymes-with-witch).
"Throw away the Geritol, grandma, and get a life," someone wrote recently when I mentioned that Mick Jagger is no longer young. (Hey, Mick's eight years my senior, sir, and you think I'm old?)
And that, of course, is nothing compared to what you get when you express thoughts that are not so politically correct on gays or any other segment of the community. Taste and the limits of a family newspaper prevent me from quoting some of the more unpleasant sections of these.
You'll just have to take my word for it: political correctness rules as it never has before in the 30-plus years I've been around the newspaper business. You can be pro-gay marriage, but don't think of criticizing it. You can think Toronto's black community needs to work with police, not against them, but don't say so. You'll end up pilloried, like Bob Runciman.
This past week's newspapers could have provided a textbook on the subject. You need look no further than the case of Runciman, Ontario's public safety minister, who last week suggested some members of Toronto's black community seem to have a vested interest in prolonging tension between blacks and police. Suddenly he's a racist? How? For wishing people would co-operate? I don't get it.
Or how about the members of the American Episcopal Church, who emerged sobbing from a meeting in which the 77-million Anglican communion's first openly gay bishop was chosen? They were openly sneered at in television news reports. Apparently decent, sincere, involved people - as one must be to be participating in these events - who can't accept the trend du jour can only be treated with contempt.
Or, in the wake of the prime minister's push to get same-sex marriage legislation on the books, the Roman Catholic Church's hierarchy, which has been roundly criticized across the nation for daring to oppose it and for intrepidly suggesting that a practising Catholic such as the prime minister should be considering his Church's views - if he wants to remain a practising Catholic, that is.
That the PM has said he must take a broader view on behalf of all is also exactly right, and what he should do. We elect politicians to represent all of us. The conflict between the two is a private matter between one man and his church that it will be up to Jean Chretien to sort out.
But I shouldn't be surprised at any of this. I've written about my own Church's struggle to deal with the gay marriage issue and I've had readers try to tell me the Anglican Church preaches bigotry from the pulpit, which is utter nonsense. In my whole life, I have never heard a single intolerant syllable - whether aimed at gays or any other segment of society - from the pulpit. My Church preaches love. That we are badly split on the idea of gay marriage doesn't mean we're intolerant of gays. We certainly are not. If it did, there is an old Anglican joke that wouldn't get many laughs.
Question: How many heterosexual Anglican priests does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Both of them. (And, yes, before you take pen in hand, I know that's unfair to heterosexual priests of which there seem to be an awful lot.)
But many, many Canadians, whether religious or not, see same-sex marriage as wrong. That doesn't mean they're bigots. And it certainly doesn't mean their views don't count.
A slim majority - 54% - of Canadians agreed with same-sex marriage, according to an Ipsos-Reid poll back in June; 44% opposed it. That leaves 10% in the middle. But people's attitudes change as issues are discussed and some may have hardened since then. I know my own have.
A few weeks ago, I was sure gay marriage was a good thing in many ways but now I'm back to finding it offensive. A legal ceremony? Sure. Property rights? Fine. But I don't want my priest to be forced to marry same-sex couples some day and I'm afraid the gay community will not stop until it has achieved that "right."
Many Canadians were raised, as I was, to regard homosexuality as immoral. Thinking people can get past that, but still have trouble with the idea of gay weddings, marriage being, as one federal politician said the other day, fundamental to our civilization. In that, it is completely different from any other issue and why we are suddenly permitting it is a shock to many people.
But everyone's views must count equally.
Surely it is crystal clear that Canadians could not be much more divided on the subject. And when Liberal backbenchers are openly revolting against their leadership, surely it should be equally clear that the headlong rush to same-sex marriage needs to be stopped and examined further.
Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com
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