‘Gays’ take cardinal to task

Press, 1 April 1985, Page 5

‘Gays’ take cardinal to task

PA Wellington The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in New Zealand, Cardinal Tom Williams, has condemned the Homosexual Law Reform Bill, and has drawn criticism from homosexual rights groups. Cardinal Williams said homosexual acts were, by their nature, immoral, and homosexual behaviour, if decriminalised, would increase.

Many thousands of “gay” people and their families would be "angered and disgusted” by the Cardinal’s comments, said the administrator of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Resource Centre in Wellington, Mr Phil Parkinson.

He said it was arrogance for the asexual heirarchy of the Church ... to presume it had a monopoly of sexual wisdom. It was the latest attempt by “the ignorant, celibate clergy to deny free will in sexual matters to the laity ...” The spokesman for Gay Taskforce, Mr Bill Logan, said, "We question the morality of Christians who promote ‘myths’ which encourage violence and hatred against gays when there is clear evidence those myths are untrue.”

The Gay Taskforce believed no-one should have the religious practice of somebody else forced on them by the State, he said. Cardinal Williams made his stand in an article in a Sunday newspaper. He said he opposed the bill. “In doing so, I pass no judgment on any individual homosexual and the state of his or her conscience before God. However, I am charged with special responsibility for the teaching of the Christian moral law. Therefore, I must repeat clearly the consistent,’ un-

equivocal teaching that homosexual acts are by their nature immoral,” he said.

“I am also charged with the duties of pastor, and therefore must give anxious thought to the way that individual persons, in the concrete circumstances of our society, may be damaged if that teaching is obscured.

“I oppose the bill because I do not believe it will further the real interests either of homosexual persons or of society as a whole. “It is not in the interests of society because, for so many people, the law is the touchstone of what is socially acceptable, even of what is morally right and wrong. For them the decriminalising of homosexuality simply suggests that it is socially and morally permissible. In this sense, law is educative. Its power to mould public opinion, social mores, and community moral standards cannot be underestimated. “Some who read this may well know that there can be a world of difference between what is legal and what is moral. Others confuse the two. Abortion provides an example. The deliberate killing of an unborn child may be legal in this country, I know it to be profoundly evil. The result of legalising abortion has been to make that evil more widespread. “The experience of legalised abortions surely indicates the certain outcome of decriminalised homosexuality: an increase in homosexual behaviour.” Cardinal Williams said the interests of the individual homosexual person must also be considered to serve those who were subject to injustice and wrqpg-

ful discrimination.

“But homosexual persons will not be served by examining only legal aspects of orientation and behaviour, and ignoring social, medical, psychological, and moral aspects. The bill does not do justice to this complexity. There is need for sustained, systematic research. It would be tragic if the proposed legal change distracted attention from that need. “Nor will homosexual people be served by removing incentives to seek assistance. Many, thanks to professional aid, and motivated by the value society sets on normal sexual orientation, are gently moving towards that normal orientation, although often with difficulty and anxiety. A change in the law, removing strong motivational support, would prove a grave loss to such persons.” Moral harm was the most serious a human being could suffer, said Cardinal Williams.

“None of us are paragons of virtue. We are all motivated by a mixture of motives. One powerful consideration urging us towards sound morality is the judgment of society as evidenced, among other ways, by the law. Parliament would do poor service to homosexual persons in their moral as well as their psychological plight if it appeared to them that society was seeing nothing wrong with homosexual conduct. Yet such a signal is the inevitable consequence of the proposed bill.” Cardinal Williams said the age of consent contained in the bill, 16 years, was clearly unacceptable, and ignored the fact that psychological and emotional maturity was “simply not to be reasonably expected” in

a 16-year-old. It opened the way to enticement to aberrant behaviour and deformation in sexuality. “The Catholic Church will present its submissions to the Parliamentary select committee out of a genuine concern for the good of those who are homosexual as well as for the common good of society,” he said. Mr Parkinson said Cardinal Williams’ argument was “honey-tongued hypocrisy.” He said it “cloaked an atrocious record” in dealing with the rights and dignity of women, of unbelievers, and all who did not agree with his Churchs’ “harsh and absurd dogma” that sexual activity was evil unless directed towards breeding. "The Roman Church has actively persecuted gay people since the Inquisition, when it used its power to have us burned at the stake. Through his collaboration with Hitler, Pope Pius XII allowed more than a quarter of a million homosexuals to be killed in the death camps of the Reich. “It is arrogance for the sexual heirarchy of the Roman Church, wedded to its eleventh century notion of ‘procreative utility’ to presume it has a monopoly of sexual wisdom. “The Cardinal’s attitudes are founded on a theological premise which sees rape and the sexual abuse of pubescent girls as perferable to masturbation or consensual adult sex with condoms. That position is condemed everywhere by free Christians concerned with the welfare of society.

“The gay community calls on all Christians to join in denouncing this latest attempt by the ignorant, celibate clergy to deny free will in sexual matters to the laity imposing its sectar-

ian dogma on society at large, and calls on Catholics everywhere to reject slavery to this cruel and unchristian doctrine.”

For the Gay Taskforce, Mr Logan said the organisation was disappointed that Cardinal Williams has put himself on the side of the anti-homosexual campaign. “We are surprised that he is using long-discredited myths to support his stand. “Once again, a churchman has wandered into the area of medical and psychological expertise without knowing the facts. “The Mental Health Foundation and other professional bodies have clearly said they believe homosexuality is a normal variation of human sexuality. Attempts to change homosexuals have proved spectacularly unsuccessful.” Mr Logan said Cardinal Williams, by mentioning the myth of ‘enticement’ of young men by homosexuals, went against all the evidence collected by psychological and medical groups. “We question the morality of Christians who promote ‘myths’ which encourage violence and hatred against gays, when there is clear evidence those myths are untrue.

"His comments on abortion can only be seen as an attempt to inject more emotion into what is already a highly charged debate.” The Gay Taskforce believed no-one should have the religious practice of somebody else forced on them by the State. “Cardinal Williams pays scant attention to love in his statement,” said Mr Logan. “What we are talking about is an attempt to keep one brand of love between consenting adults illegal. It is surely ludicrous for Christians to take this stapfi.”