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| 'The Father, the Son and the Holy Ggost' |
That
headline is in single quotes because it's the
headline of an article on Nouvelobs today by French social psychology professor Laurent Bègue.
The article
is written against a background of increasing pressure from the Catholic church (more on that here)
and other opponents of the government’s plans to legalise gay marriage, and just a few days before nationwide anti-gay marriage demonstrations.
There is nothing new in the idea expressed in the headline of course, as the theory has existed in academic and research terms since the Eighties (see Wikipedia for more details). Nor is there anything new in the article itself, apart from some research information I didn't know about, but still, it got me thinking. I had a nagging feeling that I knew something which would help me decide for myself whether or not the theory is true. Then it came to me. Of course!
You don't have to be a psychologist or any other kind of ologist to see just how true that theory is when you think about it. Here we have a church, Catholic as it happens, which is virulently homophobic. To each his own. And we know that there are many more homosexuals in the Catholic church than there are in civil society, and that picture is compounded even more by the fact that the church doesn't even support heterosexual relationships within its organisation, never mind homosexuals. Yet here they are at the forefront of the fight to stop gay marriage and offer no specific rights to homosexuals in terms of union. Well well well....
But wait a minute, I thought, this line of thought has much more serious implications than that of homosexuality, which is after all accepted by most reasonable people who support the right of people to live their lives how they wish as long as they do no harm to others.
The deeper and more serious implication of the issue is that it is also well-known that the Catholic church has an inordinately high percentage of pedophiles within its ranks than is the case for the rest of society. And that many thousands of them have been exposed over the last few years. And that the church refuses even today to introduce satisfactory measures which would allow them to identify pedophile clergy and turn them over to the police.
Why did I bring up pedophilia? Am I creating an artificial and pernicious link between homosexuality and pedophelia? No, I am not, BUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS. Someone from the Catholic church makes that link almost every day in their criticisms of gay marriage. Several prominent clergymen and many lesser-known clergy have strongly and publicly insinuated during their campaign that homosexuality may lead to pedophilia. That is very revealing indeed.
No sane person would link homosexuality to pedophilia, and there is no evidence - research indicates the opposite in fact - to show that an abnormally high number of those pedophile priests who have been tried and convicted are also homosexual.
No, there is no link, but, as is the case for homosexuality, the fact that the Catholic church makes such outrageous conflating statements on pedophilia shows just how guilty some of its members must feel about it.
Ugh. What a detestable organisation the Catholic church is.
You could not write that type of post in the US – well, you could, but people would not like it. Here, religion, of any kind, is very important. Luckily I was raised in France by anti-clerical parents, but it’s not easy to observe what is going on. I hope Ireland can get their abortion laws passed as I read about that poor Indian, Hindu woman, who died because of the Catholic church there. I did not know the church was still listened to in France.
ReplyDeleteHello Vagabonde, yes, I suppose this blog wouldn't exactly make me friends in religious America. I claim my First Amendment rights! :)
DeleteThat's a very interesting remark you make about the church and
France. France's adaptation of secularism - 'laïcité' - is strict in some ways (almost no religious insignia permitted in schools, no burqua in public etc) and purely theoretical in others, like this issue, where press space is given-a-gogo to the anti-lobby's senior clergy. The Catholic church is a very active lobby and the press gives an lot of coverage to religious events etc such as the Lourdes pilgrimage, Young Catholic day and others.
Another French paradox? Right, off to take a peek at your blog.
I am pro gay marriage! Religion is BIG BUSINESS and the catholic church wants and needs the money to feed the monster, hence the us against "them" and scare tactics... I hope France will see the light. "Hors sujet", France needs a major attitude adjustment. It seems stale, old fashion on so many point, left behind in business... people being so pessimistic... what happened?
ReplyDelete(I love this post and your theory about the catholic church is right on).
Hi Nadege and thanks for stopping by. I see from your blog that you were born in France and although you have spent many years away it is evident that you still have your finger on the pulse of your country of birth. France has indeed changed over the years. No longer lively and challenging, it has become morose, afraid and seems to have totally lost the plot. A bit like a dusty old museum which stubbornly refuses to update its collections, if I may use the analogy. I see you work in the entertainment business too. So did I when younger (I'm 59 now), as a touring and recording musician. That said, I may be older now but there's life in this old rock and roll dog yet, as you can see and read here.
Deletehttp://undertheburningbridge.blogspot.fr/2012/10/rockers-never-retire-gig.html
Je te souhaite une excellente soirée !
Frip
I checked out your october post when you and the band performed. How fun! One TV show I have been working on has an orchestra. I love the all the musicians and most of them tour during the year with "Earth wind and fire", "James Taylor"... A very talented and funny bunch.
ReplyDeleteYour analogy on France is perfect. Most countries of Europe are "have been", left in the dust except Germany, but it learned its lesson the hard way. The US has problems too, particularly because of corporations and a strong religious right that is so good at manipulating the mass. They are holding on to the past and somehow seem unable to look ahead because of greed. At present time, I am not really sure what the solution is but getting a good education is key for the younger generation.
Yup, "It's Your Education Stupid!" As you say, that is the key. Mind you, even that isn't enough here, where there are many many thousands of degree-holders who still live, jobless, with their families years after they leave Uni.
DeleteSure America has its problems too of course. If just one country was getting it all right every time "ça se saurait" as your compatriots would say. Still, despite its problems, I like so many things about America, not least its eternal optimism and the positive vibe that you get when out and about, in shops and restaurants, and whilst hanging out. Bugbears of America for me? Too much wacky religion, atrocious TV (any Brit would say that mind you) and the stubborn refusal of Americans to adopt the wonderful game of....cricket!! :)