Ranier Fsadni, Msida
Selective bias on divorce
Since Roamer (The Sunday Times, September 6) invoked me as his 'witness', some further 'testimony' may be useful background.
Firstly, on the 1986 Irish referendum: In my September 3 column I argued that for many, the anti-divorce argument had a secular force (linked to but separable from religious force).
However, my account of the Irish anti-divorce campaign also used terms like 'seemed', 'framed' and 'alleged impact' to allow for gaps between appearance and reality, behaviour and motive, claim and truth.
Secondly, I criticised a tendency in the Maltese pro-divorce camp not to face up squarely to the secular nature of some anti-divorce arguments.
However, a good illustration as any of 'facing squarely' is provided by the 1995 Irish government's information booklet on divorce (the one produced by the Department of Equality and Law Reform), since it set the record straight on some of the 1986 anti-divorce claims (while admittedly fudging it elsewhere).
Finally, Roamer called me to the stand just after an array of other witnesses had testified on the sorry state of UK families. A question I've raised in past columns is: Why select the UK?
Marital breakdown is a wounding experience everywhere but there is considerable international variation in rates and consequences. Like the US, the UK has one of the highest rates of marital breakdown in the Western world, while the social and economic consequences are among the hardest for both adults and children.
The anti-divorce camp's persistent focus on the UK and US needs a special argument that those countries are more relevant to Malta than others. Without it, the anti-divorce case is tainted by selective bias.
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Lino Apap
Sep 15th 2009, 07:55
@ Joseph Meli - sorry to burst your bubble again but the Constitution does no such thing, There is nothing in the Constitution that does not permit divorce so please keep your wishful thinking in check and do not get carried away. The only reason why Malta does not yet have a divorce law is because our politicians do not have the political guts to call a spade a spade and legislate for it. This lack of political courage can also be equated to loss of votes and not because (in most cases) of a strong religious belief. Once the political class becomes aware that there is either a majority in favour of introducing divorce legislation (which there quite possibly is) or a large minority (which there certainly is), then the subject would become very politically hot. Until now, all politicians are steering away from discussing it. After the initial announcement right after his election as leader of the PL, even Joseph Muscat has not pronounced himself in any definite way since then. However, just as Lino Spiteri recently commented in an extremely wise article, divorce will come because there is, regrettably, a need for its introduction to Maltese Law.
Joseph Meli
Sep 14th 2009, 14:08
@S.Vella:Our..Constitution does not permit Divorce, because our religious faith is..that..of.. Catholic. The only solution..if your had left this faith, is to go to get it from abroad. But the local families need to be safeguarded, promoted, based on monogamous marriage between man and woman, protected in its unity.
Pope JohnPaul..II stated "At the same..time, however, one cannot..close one’s eyes..to..the real dangers which certain tendencies in society are..promoting through legislation, nor..can one ignore the..effects this will have..on future generations."
For this..reasons the local church are obliged to defend such principles. Forgotten your marriage vows ? "Do you take ___ as your lawful wife/husband, to..have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?”…...It..does..not..say..until divorced..or..separated. But..the..Bride/Groom: "I do" Bride/Groom: "I take this ring as a sign..of my..love..and faithfulness in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit."...........WHAT..IS..THAT..OBLIGATION?
The covenant of marriage..made..by..God..is..in..fact..a..covenant..which..husband..and wife make with..each..other..and..with..God..on..the..Alter..if..they..get..married..in..Church.
In marriage..they..pledge..their..love, loyalty, and..devotion..to..each..other..as..long as they both are alive as husband and wife, not until we are divorced. That does changes everything in your marriage commitment.
S. Vella
Sep 13th 2009, 21:46
@Joe Zammit
The evil consequences of NOT divorcing on all the members of a family, especially children, are obvious for one and all to see, be it in the UK, USA or UNiversal world!! Fixed it for you - now we both wrote a biased, unjustified and basically stupid statement.
@Joseph Meli
Whether it's because of something serious like abuse or for something incredibly trivial, it does not matter why 2 persons want a divorce. What matters is that said persons do NOT want to share a life together and may want to start anew. It's their right to act on their choice. The government should only interfere only to make sure that their obligations and responsibilities are satisfied during and after the divorce.
Joseph Meli
Sep 13th 2009, 17:18
Ranier Fsadni::Malta has a Constitution which gives the right to the Church in Malta to speak...---....Then with divorce, this reminded me of what Mr Justice Coleridge said in court of what is happening in other countries and this can happen here too, so he said: "I'm drawing for the general attention as to the endless game of "musical relationships", or "pass the partner", to which such a significant portion of the population is engaged." Such terms cannot be left out in our law, otherwise they can go for an appeal and win it. So, he further stated "the nature of divorce are...just..because one presses the tooth paste from one side and not from the other, Others because, the man used too much toilet paper, or he or she went very..often..to..the..toilet, or because his wife left the toilet seat open,
Other divorced his wife/husband..because..she/he..failed..to..buy his favorite..sweets..or fruits, and many other funny points such as now the wife lost her two front teeth, or in church he often go to sit near our neighbor, or because he was doing too much aftershave or deodorant and the list goes on and on. Is this the kind of divorce suggested?
Joe Zammit
Sep 13th 2009, 12:07
The evil consequences of divorce on all the members of a family, especially children, and on society as a whole are obvious for one and all to see, be it in the UK, USA or UNiversal world!!
Ranier Fsadni
Sep 13th 2009, 12:06
@ David Borg
1. The consequences of marital breakdown do not transcend culture and they are linked to various other social and economic institutions. The socio-economic consequences of marital breakdown in (say) mid-20th-century tribal North Africa (which in certain areas had divorce rates of 50% according to some scholars) are manifestly not the same as those of 1990s Sweden. Significant difference can even be found within the same society in different historical periods.
2. I have discussed some of the contemporary variations within Europe - and some implications for the divorce debate - in my Times column of 25th June. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090625/opinion/divorce-beyond-the-soundbites
3. I do not exclude that Malta may resemble the UK and US more than it does other countries. I am simply saying that the argument has still to be made. It does not go without saying.
David Borg
Sep 13th 2009, 11:37
As a university lecturer and sociologist I would expect Dr Fsadni to use logic in his arguments.
His arguments can easily be answered. Why not the UK and the USA? Why is Maltese society so allegedly different from these countries? Why the anti UK and USA bias? In which countries of this global village are the effects of marriage breakdown different from the UK and USA? Arent marriage and the family essentially human situations that go beyond national borders and cultures?