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I tried to wait it out, I really, really did.
I tried with all my might to let the Christmas season go by without commenting about the Pope’s latest attack on gay marriage....you know the one in which he unceremoniously says that gays are people who manipulate their God-given gender to suit their sexual choices.
Yes, sad as it may sound, just a few days before Christmas 2012, the Prada bearing Pope still thinks it’s a choice to be gay.
But anyway, as incredulous and angry as this made me feel, I had been drinking enough festive wine to be able to let it go...at least until after the holidays, but, every time I went out to celebrate the birth of Jesus around a pagan tree, friends colluded to pressure me into writing something about it.
So many (and this is not an exaggeration) begged me to put their feelings of Papal shock into words, and when I resisted, (in the name of the festive season), they explained that if they had to try to put their thoughts into words themselves, all that would come out would be gibberish foul language. They told me that I was their only hope to let the Pope know exactly where to get off.
But I resisted... until Christmas morning.
That’s when I woke up and reached for my phone because it was already blaring and beeping with all kinds of Christmas messages. Quickly I skipped to this paper’s website and the first story was about our dear Archbishop’s Christmas message.
Nothing new right? Very predictable actually. It is after all, the biggest feast for Christianity.
Then, against my better judgement, I went on to read the gist of what it said. Through a half open eyelid, and mascara-blurred eyesight, I read that according to Archbishop Cremona “if, in spite of the fact that you are a citizen, you are suffering ... or you endure some form of injustice, then your citizenship is not worth much.”
Believe me, it took me more than a minute for me to get my breath back because this came only couple of days after the Archbishop’s big boss, also known as Pope Benedict XVI, said that by loving each other and wanting to be married, gay men and women are destroying the very "essence of the human creature," and that “...they deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves."
So which one is it I wonder?
Who’s right and who’s wrong?
Is this a serious case of the right hand not knowing what the left one is doing? Or is it a weak attempt at veiling hypocrisy?
I mean they can’t both be right, right?
On the one hand, our Archbishop is telling our political leaders that “they should do their utmost to ensure that any benefits emanating from their country and the European Union are available to one and all, and that nobody is marginalised for any reason whatsoever,” and on the other, the Pope thinks that gay men and women who want to get married are a threat to world peace.
It is physically, morally, ethically and practically impossible to adhere to both the Pope’s and Archbishop’s messages, so which one will it be?
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Melissa Bagley
Jan 1st, 07:55
The threat to world peace is greed and power, not gay marriage.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 28th 2012, 13:56
@ all supporters of Alison
Few of my reasonable replies to comments on this blog are being allowed through and that is the reason for my ceasing to respond.
Alison Bezzina
Dec 28th 2012, 14:45
Francis I just wanted to clarify a point that you might be implying in your comment (or maybe not).
Let it be know that I have no control whatsoever over what comments are allowed and which aren't. It is the Times moderator and not the bloggers who decide these things.
Happy New Year.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 28th 2012, 16:08
@Alison
I knew that already.
New Year greetings reciprocated.
Anthony Scicluna
Dec 28th 2012, 13:22
There are two issues that no one here has resolved for me:
What conclusive and irrefutable evidence is there that same sex marriages are not beneficial to society at large?
What conclusive and irrefutable evidence is there that children within same sex marriages are significantly worse off than those in heterosexual marriages?
The rest flows from answers to these questions
Mario Grech
Dec 28th 2012, 10:13
And here's another part you might want to tear apart with your tunnel vision :
"The good citizen is the one who does not only look after his own interests in such a way that he is always on the look-out for what benefits he can gain from the State; he is to ensure that others enjoy these benefits also.”
Mario Grech
Dec 28th 2012, 10:12
@ Francis and Joseph below :
Clearly you haven't read the Bishop's message in its entirety. Here's a commendable excerpt from it that might help you be less patronizing towards the author.
"Leaders should do their utmost to ensure that any benefits emanating from their country and the European Union are available to one and all, and that nobody is marginalised for any reason whatsoever...."
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 28th 2012, 09:52
Any serious blogger should know that there is no such thing as ensuring that any benefits (real or alleged)emanating from one country should be made available to one and all, It is common knowledge that there are derogations in the EU restricting the applicability of "benefits" to particular nations. Snus in Sweden and hunting regulations in Malta are a case in point.
Eric Soames
Dec 27th 2012, 21:26
Alison Bezzina: While your sentiments of inclusion are admirable I think you're wasting your time charging at this particular windmill. Not because it is an imaginary enemy you tackle but because these Rights in question are human and civil, not religious or spiritual, and therefore to be discussed at a secular, political level, your lance needs to be re-directed at a different target.
Joseph Aquilina
Dec 28th 2012, 00:46
Actually they are not even human rights. There was a court case where the judges made if very clear that same sex marriage is not a human right. This is from early this year: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117920/Gay-marriage-human-right-European-ruling-torpedoes-Coalition-stance.html
David Seychell
Dec 27th 2012, 17:43
Alison you would be right in saying that the two messages aer contradictory if the following 3 conditions are true.
The bishop said:
A) Any benefit that exists in at least one country should also exist in all the countries of the world.
B) Same-sex Marriage is beneficial.
C) Any benefit, like for instance children allowances should be granted to all citizens even the childless ones.
Alison Bezzina
Dec 27th 2012, 18:41
@David
How is prohibiting a couple from marrying and in the process negating them other rights that come with marriage, just because their genders happen to match, not discriminatory ?
David Seychell
Dec 28th 2012, 04:41
Should children allowance benefits be granted to all citizens including those who do not have children? Of course not, that would be crazy & I believe this is not what the Archibishop meant to say. All benefits should be granted to ALL citizens but only WHEN and IF the citizen meet the relevant requirements. Marriage is open to all citizens but the citizen must 1st meet the relevant requirements.
David Seychell
Dec 28th 2012, 12:47
"How is prohibiting a couple from marrying and in the process negating them other rights that come with marriage, just because their genders happen to match, not discriminatory?"
That's a tall order considering that I have only 4 lines at my disposal but I have enough space left to say 1 thing. Were it really discriminatory, homosexual activists would have by now already won a ton of court cases.
David Seychell
Dec 29th 2012, 19:04
Part1
You asked me, 'why it's not discriminatory to refuse to give the right to marry to a same-sex couple'? The right to marry is not given to an opposite sex couple either. Marriage is a Human right granted to individuals and not to couples or any other group of persons.
David Seychell
Dec 29th 2012, 19:04
Part2
Every man or woman, whether homosexual or not, have all the same and exact right: the right to marry one person of the opposite sex according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right. All individuals are treated the same and therefore there is no discrimination.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 27th 2012, 14:30
@Allison today at 11:49
I tried to neutralize the injustice of attributing to H.H. the Pope notions about homosexuality that he does not have. You do not specify which gay rights emanating from the European Union are being promoted by H.H. the Pope but Archbishop Cremona denies them. Please do so now otherwise the conclusion is that it is not I, but you, who are trying to dictate rights.
Alison Bezzina
Dec 27th 2012, 15:32
@ Francis
I do not specify because I do not need to.
The last time I checked the words 'any', 'one and all' , and 'any reason whatsoever' include everything, including (shock horror) marriage.
If this is not what he meant then he should have chosen different words all together like 'some' 'or 'most' or 'many'.
B Ellul
Dec 27th 2012, 13:37
Alison you're VERY VERY Confused. Please take a break in these two weeks and do not post anything. Give us a break from your usual ranting....
Andy Farrugia
Dec 27th 2012, 14:53
Excellent comment.
Mario Grech
Dec 27th 2012, 15:19
@B Ellul
Wow religious supremacy at its best.
How about you don't log into this blog ever again?
Or are you so selfless that you would like the rest of us readers to also have a non desired break just to keep you company ?
B Ellul
Jan 3rd, 14:37
@ Mario
What has religion got to do with my comment? Insomma if not to check for anyone replying my comments i will stop wasting my time vistiting this blog and you can continue wasting your time...
charles caruana
Dec 27th 2012, 11:50
Who is really confused here? Neither Pope nor Bishop condemn persons who are gays for being homosexual, but they do condemn the sin of practising homosexual sex, just as they condemn disoredered heterosexual sex outside marriage. Get 'your' Catholic morality right, before you smugly start condemning the Pope with cliched accusations of homophobia, seeing confusions which may be only in your head.
LOUIS ZAMMIT
Dec 27th 2012, 11:07
mr frank zammit
do you know that when u marry you get many other rights...that we do not ever get..thast why the rights why should my neighbour meet a russian girl or whatever can marry brings her over and live together Gays cannot why should u inherit ur wife or husband Pension...gays Cannot and so many other things thats 2 REASON why
Evarist Saliba
Dec 27th 2012, 10:39
Had the author been in England she would have come across many critics, judges, politicians, clergymen, journalists who criticised Cameron heavily at Christmastime for his insistence to introduce same-sex marriage (which was not on his, or any other, party's electoral programme) rather than concentrate on his unfulfilled electoral promise to strengthen marriage. Malta is not alone.
Frank Zammit
Dec 26th 2012, 22:57
Whoever wants to be gay, let them be gay; but why marriage? In every culture there is some kind of marriage, it existed for thousands of years before Christianity and has always between individuals of the opposite sex; meaning it is like that for a purpose. This new idea of gay couples getting married is some kind of a twisted liberal idea without a purpose or real meaning. Why the fuss Alison?
Ramon Casha
Dec 27th 2012, 12:55
"...and has always between individuals of the opposite sex"
That's where you're wrong. The nature of marriage has changed many times, including in the number of women, and whether they had to be willing. The biggest change however is that from being exclusively about inheritance, today marriage is about love, which applies irrespective of sexual orientation.
Joseph Aquilina
Dec 26th 2012, 13:01
I believe that the Pope - as spiritual leader of over one billion people from all around the world - has all the right in the world to give us his opinion about same sex marriage. The problem is that so many (because it suits them to do so) consider same sex marriage as related to human rights when this is only related to the desires of the persons involved.
Mario Scicluna
Dec 26th 2012, 10:29
''the biggest feast for Christianity..''
Good article Alison, as always!
Minor correction, the 'biggest feast' for Christianity is not the birth of Christ, but the Ressurrection.
Alison Bezzina
Dec 26th 2012, 12:00
It should be you're right.....but in practice, it isn't is it Mario ?
Mario Scicluna
Dec 26th 2012, 13:35
True my dear Alison, you have a valid point! Also of note, materialism replaced also at Easter, with Easter Bunnies, Jelly Jesus and Bunny Rabbits! All pagan.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 26th 2012, 08:19
His Holiness the Pope does not "still think(s) it’s a choice to be gay" nor does he think that anyone is at fault if s/he is born that way. He thinks that to practice sodomy is a deliberate choice that one makes and that it is wrong, just as it is wrong to indulge in shoplifting even though someone may have been born a kleptomaniac.
Charles Bayliss
Dec 26th 2012, 11:36
Dr Saliba, can you name one person, who is in the age of sexual activity and refrains from this activity? I suppose you, in your time, did not refrain from this, thus why should I, being a gay person, have to? This is my nature and I did not choose to be one.
Mario Grech
Dec 26th 2012, 12:36
And what about women then Francis? I guess that if the issue is sodomy, then lesbians are in full adherence to The Church's teachings. U hallina Francis.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 26th 2012, 14:37
@Charles Bayliss
I willl give you the requested names as soon as I am absolved from my obligation to observe professional secrecy as regards the numerous patients who contract sex-linked diseases after practicing what are usually considered to be unnatural sex practices.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 26th 2012, 14:39
@MarioGrech.
What I wrote about sodomy applies with equal force to the equivalent practice in the female sex.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 27th 2012, 11:01
@CharlesBayliss.
You, being a gay person, are not being prevented from indulging in any sexual activity that is not illegal and that you choose to practice without offending public morals. Only, you have no right to expect that His Holiness the Pope in the company of a large multitude of other people should praise sodomy and similar sex practices.
Alison Bezzina
Dec 27th 2012, 11:49
Francis it is not up to you to dictate rights BUT that apart, clearly The Pope disagrees with Archbishop Cremona when he says that "any benefits emanating from a country and the European Union should be made available to one and all, and that nobody is marginalised for any reason whatsoever.
I guess asking for consistency from anyone and anything with such power is too much to ask for.
charles caruana
Dec 27th 2012, 12:27
Ms Bezzina, would you please stop assuming and start thinking? On what grounds are you assuming that Archbishop Cremona was including gay marriage and the right to it in his phrase 'any benefits'? You must be either a mind reader or an adept in reading into the words of others your wishful thinking. Logic and consistency are called for from everyone, including you.
Ramon Casha
Dec 27th 2012, 12:51
@Francis Saliba: Did you mention Sodomy?
Ezekiel 16:49-50 "‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen."
Arrogant? Unconcerned? Seems to describe you more than them.
Alison Bezzina
Dec 27th 2012, 13:05
@ Charles
If The Bishop wasn't referring to gay marriage (as well) then instead of lessons in consistency he should take a few in English, because the words 'any', 'one and all' , and 'any reason whatsoever' have a universal, all-encompassing meaning whichever way you look at them, regardless of your believes and thoughts.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 27th 2012, 15:28
@RamonCasha today at 12:51
What on earth do you mean? I do not approve or practice sodomy. Does that make me arrogant or unconcerned? Do I need to do both to earn your esteem and is your esteem worth anything? The answer to all those questions is a resounding NO.
Ramon Casha
Dec 27th 2012, 20:07
@Francis Saliba: According to your Bible, Sodomy - the actions of the Sodomites that led to the destruction of the city - had nothing to do with sex (gay or straight) at all.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Dec 28th 2012, 06:13
@RamonCasha
If you want to learn what sodomy means today please consult any current dictionary not the Old Testament.
Ramon Casha
Dec 28th 2012, 11:29
Actually it makes more sense to go to the source of the word "Sodom" itself.
Eddy Privitera
Dec 25th 2012, 22:45
I wonder what "benefits" did the Archbishop have in mind as coming from the EU ! The around €1,500 million in obligations Malta has been burdened with to protect the euro , perhaps ?
Anthony Scicluna
Dec 26th 2012, 21:01
Don't worry Eddy. Once Sant becomes MEP and Muscat the PM, we'll exit the Eurozone and the EU and get our money back. Like that we can have a field day subsidising all those poor people who are living on the poverty line, the thousands registering for work and the water and/or electricity bills. What we need is a welfare nanny state.
Rita Borg
Dec 25th 2012, 19:59
The usual anti-gay message broadcasted with gay abandon (pun intended) !
P. Barbara
Dec 25th 2012, 19:57
So ;who's wrong and who's right?
Definitely your good self.
Eric Soames
Dec 25th 2012, 19:44
There is no way the Church will countenance gay marriage - ever. It's a core belief that it cannot deviate from, even if/when it acknowledges that homosexuality is not by choice. You and I can have our own feelings and opinions about the matter and act accordingly but we can't expect a chicken to quack.
David Seychell
Dec 25th 2012, 18:12
"I mean they can’t both be right, right?"
Wrong. There's no contradiction between the two messages.
Joseph Calleja
Dec 25th 2012, 16:04
hear, hear, usual article.
Please choose the reason of your report below: