The third siege of Malta

The divorce debate has now reached a new crescendo following Jeffrey Pullicino Orl­an­do’s tabling of a draft law. Since then, a torrent of correspondence has flooded the media with most columnists taking divorce in Malta as a foregone conclusion and excoriating those who think otherwise.

In this over-heated, so-called debate, I feel some dispassionate comments are in order.

Firstly, divorce is not a purely religious issue such as contraception, premarital sex, fasting, observance of religious obligations, etc. In other words, divorce has powerful social implications and, as such, affects everyone, religious or otherwise.

For years now, the western world has been faced with an unprecedented breakdown in relationships and the root causes of this phenomenon have been largely unrecognised and ignored. Social changes have dramatically undermined the stability of the family. Elsewhere, divorce has been used to try to regularise the unprecedented situation. It is undeniable that, if it proved a solution for many, unfortunately, it has also proved disastrous for many more, resulting in an increased incidence of broken marriages, rising levels of cohabitation and a worrying drop in the birth rate.

In short, overseas, family life as we, as yet, know it in Malta, has broken down, one could say almost irreversibly. The statistics are there. People who work in the field, such as social workers, teachers, police officers and family courts are acutely aware of the social cost… and not just in monetary terms.

Unsurprisingly, divorce has not proved the effective tool it is so vociferously portrayed to be. Contrary to the nonsense stated so categorically by too many, it is not a human right.

Also, it is quite often not a just solution. In other words, divorce is blind and all complex laws fashioned to insert any element of fairness unravel after a short period of time.

This has been proven in Europe and the US. Malta cannot pretend to be different. As G.K. Chesterton so eloquently commented: “If you let loose a law, it will do as a dog does. It will obey its own nature, not yours.”

Divorce denatures the very concept of marriage; it totally sucks out the very significance of a vow. A vow is worthless if it can be discarded. This crucial fact and the consequences thereof have been conveniently and totally ignored by the pro-divorce brigade.

Undoubtedly, some marriages are intrinsically flawed. In other words, in some cases, the vow is not valid because of disqualifying factors. Equating annulments with divorce is therefore unfounded and misleading.

In Malta’s current social situation, it does not need much awareness to realise that things are changing and fast. Current trends in teenage pregnancies, financial insecurity and unmanageable indebtedness, the absence of the mother in the home, increasing promiscuity, not to mention other factors, such as increased drug use and easy access to pornography, are clear indications of a corrosive environment that needs urgent attention.

Malta is once more at a crucial point of its history. The assault on the family has been a long time coming. We are in need of clear leadership. Further Machiavellian politics will be ruinous for our country’s future. We should shore up marriage and not undermine it.

Are we about to propose legislation that will have an irreversible negative impact on society, particularly the young? In Malta, we have the luxury of observing and analysing what has already happened elsewhere. We should take advantage of it.

As Judge Sir Paul Coleridge emphasised in his talk in Malta last May on the impact of marriage and family breakdown in UK: “What is certain is that almost all of society’s social ills can be traced directly to the collapse of the family life.”

He had concluded by referring to the Great Siege of 1565 and added: “I fear you are going to experience another destructive invasion if you do not confront and prepare for it. It is potentially as destructive to your way of life as any physical invasion although more slow moving and difficult to detect.”