Wednesday, 22nd July 2009
On the agenda this week
I would like to start off my second contribution to this blog by setting a few facts straight. After reading one or two comments by other bloggers on my last article I could not but wonder whether some of the people commenting were living in this day and age or were stuck in a time warp.
I was not around throughout the politically black eras of the 60s and 80s. What concerns me most is my future and that of my generation.
With all due respect to all the bloggers who found fit to play the never ending blame game on who did the worst job of leading our country I can only say that the past is past but the future is inevitable. And we can only achieve the best for our country together, as one nation, by objectively criticising what needs to be improved and taking care to keep all that is good.
That glass ceiling
One item which particularly struck me this week on the Times was a report by Juan Ameen entitled 'Maltese women face thickest glass ceiling, new study shows'. In a nutshell it's all about the Glass Ceiling Index - a study that compares the proportion of women in Grade A positions with the proportion of women in Academia.
Unsurprisingly Malta has the thickest glass ceiling in the EU making it the hardest for women to move up the professional ladder. And I say unsurprisingly because we are now used to being ranked at the bottom of the table in EU reports which compare Malta to the rest of the other members, on issues which concern the well being of the people. On the other hand we are often the front runners when it comes to negative concerns.
But back to the Glass Ceiling Index, we seem to have fared miserably when it comes to female researchers in top research positions and the figure has remained unchanged for the last couple of years. With all the talk of investment year after year budget after budget are we missing the point here? Is this government doing enough to bring about a change in mentality, to emphasise the benefits of pursuing a career in Research? Are we making the conditions attractive enough to encourage women to choose this path? If this report is anything to go by we are a long way away.
Marching on
I proudly attended the Gay march last Saturday in Valletta. There were no pink fluffy scarves or scenes out of the Sacha Baron Cohen movie 'Bruno'as many cynics expected. It was a civilised manifestation of pride. Not the pride of being gay or being different. The pride of having the courage to stand up, to stand up and be counted.
For once and for all we must flush out of our psyche any prejudice, hatred and discrimination against the LGBT community in Malta. Many were those who questioned the benefit of walking down a street holding placards and joining hands. But as long as there are people in this country who feel that due to their religion, political beliefs or sexual orientation, they are not being treated on par with others in society, then I say yes, let them speak, let them be heard and let them stand up and be counted...
Divorcing the issues
The Archbishop's curia spoke out against divorce again recently, declaring that is not the solution for our social ills.
Of course the church has every right to take part in any social dialogue it deems that it should be involved in. I believe however that the starting point (or rather the continuation!) for such a discussion would be to divorce the issues of religious doctrine from civil rights.
For it is true that it is the Church's duty to point out that it in its view divorce is immoral and not right, but it is also a fact that there are people out there that may simply not feel at one with the church's teachings and do not have the same beliefs. Gone are the days of imposing one's values on others even if these may be minority groups.
I believe that divorce is a basic civil right and if you believe that marriage is indissoluble then do not go down that path. But do not deny that right to others. After all we are the only EU state still denying the right to divorce...
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Comments
Interesting comments from both Giovanni and Charles.
I think what it really amounts to, is how relevant religion has become to the general public these days. It is hard to argue that what is right to me may be wrong to someone else and vice versa because in religious terms, there's a right and there's a wrong, otherwise what is the relevancy of the ten commandments most of which remain the basis of the universal common law?
When we take license to stretch the limits of a prescribed law, even if not breaking it, it creates a moral dilemma. Divorce is one such example. An unhappy couple has the right to live apart in peace while keeping material obligations towards each other and any children produced by them. Divorce facilitates such an arrangement. On the other hand how can one ignore the very clear words of Jesus, "What God has bound together, let no man tear asunder"?
So, for the 95% Catholics in Malta, this question has to be answered from the religious point of view and when faced with an unhappy marriage, they have to decide whether to remain loyal to the church or not.
Continued
Divorce exists in all countries except a few including Malta. The Catholic Church exists in all the countries where divorce is only a few euros away and the Church there is doing as well as every place else. Malta's church attendance is falling, not because of divorce, since divorce does not yet exist, but for a myriad of other reasons especially because materialism has taken over and people seem to place more importance to the acquisition of gizmos and gadgets than their spiritual welfare.
Introduction of a Divorce law in Malta is an extremely touchy subject because it is an occasion when, like it or not, Church and State have to come together on this one and we know how many espouse the idea of a complete separation of the two.
We appear to have reached a point of inevitability and being hard headed about it will cause pain, rather than a way to preserve Church influence. The Church, of course is right to defend the sanctity of marriage but on the other hand Church and State have to face today's reality, sooner or later.
So 95% of our population is Roman Catholic and our constitution guarantees them freedom of worship....what about the other 5%, does our constitution threat them as children of a lesser God dear Effie?
Oops that ‘h’ in threat shouldn’t have gone there, of course I meant ‘treat’. Pardon my slip.
For once in your life you are finding me agreeing with you with regards to the human weaknesses except that what we might see wrong in other people may be considered as right to them and vice versa, it’s called inner feeling and that is why it’s always wrong when we judge others. But what has all this got to do with the gist of my comment on divorce? My point is not about whether divorce and eating meat on Good Friday are or is not a sin or whether the church has got the right to propagate the negative results of divorse, which is all beside the point. Moreover, my personal opinion as to whether divorce solves or creates more problems is also superfluous. The bone of contention is whether or not the state has a mandate to deprive its citizens from their civil rights when they go against the religious beliefs of the majority. My stand is for separation between Religions and Politics as that brings harmony in a real democracy.
@ Effie Carbonaro.
So 95% of our population is Roman Catholic and our constitution guarantees them freedom of worship....what about the other 5%, does our constitution threat them as children of a lesser God dear Effie?
Sodomy, homosexual acts, sex outside marriage, adultery, the use of condoms, coetus interruptus, priests having mistresses, eating meat on Good Friday as well as harbouring impure thoughts etc.,all go against the moral principles of 95% of our population and yet they are all legal- can you explain this anomaly to us? Your argument doesn’t hold much water does it? It’s full of holes and you are making a mistake when you defend a despotic attitude.
from the last census made in malta it was recorded that 95% of the maltese population is roman catholic which means that they follow christ teachings.so we have to follow those teachings be that we are in the 21st century and that atheist like you want to be happy.we have to follow and abide by those teachings because ,has i wrote prevoiusly,we must keep our christian identity.mr attard what do you suggest we do choose which teachings suits our livestye and break others that hinder our lives.being an atheist i dont think you can answer this question because for people like you anything goes.
With regards to divorce, if we believe that by not legalising it we are protecting our families we are only deceiving ourselves. Many marriages have broken up and both parties are now living with someone else. By legalising divorce we will only be helping couples in broken marriages and whoever has a successful marriage need not be afraid of such a legislation. We might have a catholic government, but anyone can choose to disregard catholic teaching and no one has the right to impose his religous beliefs on anyone else, not even on his children.
past. Let us move ahead and build a much better future for our kids and further. Let
us all work to achieve what is best for us all and for our nation. Let us all criticize
what is going wrong and any wrong doings.
Indeed, “imposing on others your will”, be it the Government or the Church, is not acceptable in our modern society! Divorce is universally accepted nowadays as a ‘civil right’. The State cannot deny that basic right anymore. GonziPN pls note!