Talking about Morality

The Civil Partnership Bill is on the way, or so it seems. I have to say, it makes me very pleased to know that non-heterosexual couples (such as a very close friend of mine) will finally have some rights and protections under the law. It's been a long time coming.

Anything that makes the world a little happier is something to be celebrated. And let's face it - this can only make the world a little happier, because it's a little step closer to finally breaking that constitutional lock out on marraige that isn't between one man and one woman; that archaic concept needs to be returned to where it belongs - the last century.

But the Catholic bishops just can't let it go, can they? The sanctity of marraige, non-hetero relationships are a sin, all that kind of thing. They're talking about morality, their morality, as dictated by their distant pontiff in Rome. And they can't let this happen; they can't let one tiny foothold of equality take root here, in the heartland of Catholicism. If they can't stop it here, in a country that has willingly grovelled at their feet for decades...

But that battle has already been fought, and lost.

The world has moved on, and Ireland moves with it. America is already moving that way, despite the efforts of the right-wing fundamentalists. Various European countries have moved on, and the EU will undoubtedly pull Ireland onwards if it begins to stall. And there is no morality among the clergy now - how can they preach to a population that knows the crimes of the Church? How do they stay relevant in an era where the Internet has opened the entirety of human culture to their flock, including all those other, more liberal religions?

It's so easy to talk about morality when passing judgement on a bill of law that can never, ever affect you. It's so easy to deny, when it isn't you that suffers as a result. That is Catholic morality, dear reader, according to the bishops of Ireland... and this is the sound of its death-knell.