A Lutheran theologian believes society has nothing to fear from same-sex marriage.
“This is a minor thing. You just need to grow accustomed to it and you will see that relationships between homosexual people are similar to heterosexual relationships,” Haukur Ingi Jónasson said.
“It is just a little mental threshold to get over. As Christians and modern people, we need to do it.”
Dr Jónasson was speaking with Times of Malta ahead of yesterday’s public lecture at the University titled Theology of Human Rights: The Case of Gay Marriage in Iceland.
Iceland’s Parliament unanimously voted to introduce a gender-neutral marriage definition in 2010, making it possible for gays and lesbians to wed. Prior to that, same-sex couples had been entitled to enter into registered partnerships.
What is the fear? If they want to call it marriage, why on earth should that undermine our understanding of marriage?
Jónasson, who is not gay, recalled how the Lutheran Church in Iceland paid a high price for opposing the redefinition of marriage.
He recalled how a gay man he worked with kept a quote from the Bishop of Iceland on his wall. The quote was along the lines of: “We should be very careful about throwing the ancient institution of marriage into the trash can.”
“The gay man said: ‘I cannot do anything about who I am, but look at what my bishop is saying.’ The bishop said a very hostile thing. Such statements undermined the Church, and a lot of people left the Church over that and other issues.”
From a theological perspective, Dr Jónasson said opponents of gay marriage “have to really know what they are doing if they are going to use texts that are 2,000 years old to define human rights in modern society”.
“From a religious perspective, if heterosexual couples are allowed to have an important and meaningful covenant between themselves, society and God, then such a treasure should be open to any mature individual.”
He added that religious opposition to gay marriage was based on “a very narrow-minded understanding of Scripture, and old fashioned theology”.
“I would say to the opponents: meet people in their own surroundings and see what they are going through before you condemn their desires. This is basic Christianity, as basic as it gets.”
The Maltese Government is planning to introduce civil unions that will be equal to marriage in all but name. Is the word ‘marriage’ important?
“Language is dynamic and powerful. I think gay and lesbian people themselves should answer this. I would ask them what they want to call it. Why should I define what it is called? What is the fear? If they want to call it marriage, why on earth should that undermine our understanding of marriage? Could it not enrich it? I don’t see the problem,” Dr Jónasson said.
Asked about fears that children of gay parents would be susceptible to bullying, Dr Jónasson said: “Everyone is allowed to have children, more or less, but not everyone is capable of raising children appropriately. I actually think gays and lesbians are perhaps even more capable, because they have fought so much for their rights, they seem sometimes to be better off in terms of income, and they don’t take things for granted.”