Robert Hampton

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27th December 2012

Goodwill to all men (but not those who love other men)
Posted by at 3.40pm | Gay, In the News | 1 response

With all the crass commercialism, overeating and excessive drinking, it’s sad to see that people have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. I refer, of course, to some of Britain’s religious leaders, who chose Christmas Day, of all days, to attack their favourite target of the moment: teh gayz.

Exhibit A: Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and the head of the Catholic church in England and Wales:

The head of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales issued his strongest attack yet on the government’s plans to introduce same-sex marriage, lambasting them as “shambolic” and accusing the prime minister of “shallow thinking”.

In the most divisive of a host of Christmas Day comments from religious leaders, the archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, questioned the democratic credentials of the plans, which could see the first gay weddings take place in 2014.

Exhibit B: The Bishop of Shrewsbury:

Bishop Davies believes the government’s decision to introduce equal marriage rights in England and Wales in 2013 is similar to how Hitler and Stalin tried to undermine religious freedom.

The senior Catholic will say: “Past generations have gathered in this cathedral on Christmas night amid many shadows which seemed to obscure the future for them.

“We think of the ideologies of the past century, Communism and Nazism, which in living memory threatened to shape and distort the whole future of humanity.”

The Nazi allusion is particularly offensive, given the number of homosexuals slaughtered by Hitler’s henchmen.

With war, poverty and oppression still commonplace around the world, it’s amazing that church leaders are focusing so heavily on gay rights. Their obsession with the issue is troubling and out of step with public opinion, with the latest poll showing a clear majority (60%) of the public in favour.

In any case, if church leaders did feel the need to speak out, could they not have left it alone for just one day? A Christmas truce, maybe?