Gay Marriage

Gonna start this one with a pretty shocking revelation... you ready? Here goes...

I LIKE the fact that Cardinal O'Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, has condemned gay marriage proposals as a 'grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right'.
(Full story here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17249099)

That way, when someone asks why I dislike the Catholic Church, I don't have to delve into my extensive list of papal atrocities, historical barbarisms, scientific repressions, judgements of questionable morality, or divisive actions.

It is a lot easier to point to its outdated, prejudicial, discriminatory, inflammatory, bigoted and homophobic views.

How an organisation can claim moral authority yet discriminate against certain factions of society, based on unchangeable facets of themselves, is unknown to me. How O'Brien can even reference the slave trade (see article) in such a debate, but fail to see how immoral and untenable his position is, is beyond staggering.

A cynic may argue that such statements as his are designed to provoke, that the Church plays (for want of a better phrase) devil's advocate in order to still seem relevant in today's world. They say any media coverage is good media coverage, indeed it has sparked this thread of thought. Therefore, a cynic may conclude that religious leaders do not believe what they are saying, merely that they are expected to say it.

An optimist would hope this is the case, however corrupt it may be, when the alternative is that some members of the human race have progressed no further than believing the tenets of a 2000 year old book.

Which brings me onto my over-arching theme when dealing with religion. Why is it still around? In a world where we are encouraged to think for ourselves, and to pursue intellectual emancipation, why are there those who are happy to be constrained by others and told what/ how to think/ behave? I have my ideas, but you'll have to wait for that. Trust me, it'll be good...