“Many of those, hailing from all sections of the political spectrum and beyond, commenting on the present civil unions legislation, drag in the question of the separation of State and Church. In my opinion this is wrong and in fact they are missing the point and failing to make a necessary distinction. The problem of the correct relationship between State and Church is an institutional one which is usually tackled and resolved in a constitutional manner which establishes the proper place of each institution in the State. In fact, the 1974 Constitution has, in this respect, by and large served us well.

But this has nothing to do with the present question of civil unions legislation. Indeed it is quite irrelevant. What is at stake here is rather what is the proper and correct moral behaviour of each and every individual when it comes to casting his vote on the matter. This is the only relevant point that should be considered and the question of State-Church relationship does not come into it at all. Not making this precise distinction leads to muddled thinking.