THE Catholic Bishop of Bathurst’s take on the contentious postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage sums up all that is good and bad about this debate.
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When asked what position, if any, the local Catholic Church was taking on the plebiscite, Bishop Michael McKenna responded: “Catholics will be informed by their beliefs in marriage according to their faith and that will lead some to vote no but others might say that this is what I believe as a Catholic but for various reasons vote yes.
“… We have a very clear position on what we regard as Christian marriage and this law, nor any law, would not affect that.”
It’s a response that should give hope and assurance to people on both sides of the same-sex marriage divide.
On the one hand, the bishop says it’s up to every Catholic – indeed, every person – to decide for themselves where they stand on same-sex marriage. It is not up to institutions to inform that decision.
On the other hand, those who have entered in a Christian marriage – and those who will do so in the years to come – have nothing to fear from same-sex marriage. A change to the Marriage Act will not impact on the traditions of Christian marriage.
Indeed, the bishop’s primary concern in this debate was the potential impacts on religious freedom – and that, too, is fair enough.
Among the challenges and responsibilities for politicians who draft the final same-sex marriage legislation [if we finally reach that point] will be to ensure it serves the purpose of granting a new right to one section of the community without impinging on the existing rights of another.
We must be mature enough as a society to respect the wishes of a church that does not allow same-sex marriages within its chapels, just as we must be sensible enough to allow a florist or baker who is offended by same-sex marriage to politely refuse to take on that new business.
And we must have confidence in the overwhelming goodwill in our society to allow two sets of beliefs to live harmoniously beside each other.
Already too much has been written and too much has been said about the same-sex marriage plebiscite and we have not yet reached the starting blocks.
But the bishop’s words cast this debate in a stark light – legalised same-sex marriage will impact only on those who wish it to do so and not on those who don’t. Simple.
