Beware the Taleban of tolerance

10 February 2007

How is it that when it comes to gay adoption and Catholic charities, ‘being Catholic’ is a conflict of interest but ‘being gay’ is not? A notable journalistic exception was Matthew Parris, usually a critic of Catholicism, who pointed out the sheer lack of proportionality from the opponents of the Church’s position and asked how much of a problem this would really have presented in the first place. How many gay couples would want to approach a Catholic adoption agency in any event?

So much for the way the debate was conducted, but what was it actually about? Not, primarily, homosexuality, nor fundamental human rights. At heart, this debate was about conscience.

After all, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, the Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Muslim Council have not been calling for a ban on gay adoptions. What they have said is, ‘You do what you want as a society. That’s part of the democratic process. But we are not able to do this for reasons of conscience. Since this is so, we ask for a space for people who cannot in conscience participate. Why do we need this space? Because we are part of this society, and we want to continue providing what everyone sees as a first-class service for society’s most deprived children — something we have done with distinction for over a century.’ That’s what the Cardinal and others have been arguing. And we have found, in the last few weeks, that this is something the anti-discrimination fundamentalists cannot contemplate. It has been amazing to observe the intolerance of those who have been so loudly crying for tolerance.

You may say that this doesn’t affect you. But it does. There are very serious issues here. The democratic process is being by-passed and legitimate views marginalised. Where will our society end up when compromise is not even discussed?

The question is simple: is any politician who is Christian, Muslim or Jewish — or indeed of any faith — to be vilified for believing their faith’s teaching? The answer from the fundamentalists is ‘Yes’. It’s happened already with Ruth Kelly. And it’s happened in Europe. Three years ago Rocco Butiglione — renowned as one of the most thoughtful politicians in Italy — was vetoed as Italian European commissioner by a militant alliance of gay activists and pro-abortion advocates because he held mainstream Christian views on family life. What if your Christian, Muslim or Jewish sons and daughters want to take part in the political life of their country or of Europe? Are they to be told effectively to hang their religion and conscience at the door or abandon any hope of advancement?