1 December 2004

Civil Union Prevaricators Misunderstand Morality

Opponents of the Civil Union Bill have misconstrued nastiness for moral argument, says Christians for Civil Unions spokesperson, Rev Dr Margaret Mayman.

“It is a terrible shame that Don Brash in particular has interpreted the appalling rhetoric of the anti-gay submitters as evidence of public opinion in New Zealand. New Zealanders strongly support the bills in the interests of protecting and strengthening the relationships of many New Zealanders who are currently vulnerable. Opinion polls rather than an organised campaign of form submissions from fundamentalists give an accurate indication of kiwi views. The July 2004 TV3 poll indicated 59% support for Civil Unions.

“Much of the content of the submissions and websites such as civil-unions.org.nz are quite immoral. They incite hatred and denigrate the lives and relationships of gay and lesbian New Zealanders. While they make claims to be Christian, they bear little semblance to the kind of respect and love for persons shown by Jesus Christ, Dr Mayman said.

The anti Civil Union website claims that: “God says homosexual activity is immoral; it is to our national shame that it is not still illegal; it is clearly destructive (HIV/AIDS, STDs etc.), as is all sexual activity outside marriage" Select Committee Submissions included disturbed claims such as: “A homosexual or lesbian marriage only promotes hidden insecurities in a child which do manifest at a time oblivious to our awareness. Two men cannot teach about sex education in relation to intercourse not backdoor course, the rectum is for excretion not for the wasting of sperm. Sperm is what produces children it was not created to flow up stream. Government you will warrant the death sentence of a multitude." (CU2849)

We should rather heed the words Don Brash’s late father, the Very Rev Dr Alan A Brash, who wrote in his book Facing Our Differences: the Churches and their gay and lesbian members. “"Some of the people whom I most respect and love have shared with me that they are of homosexual orientation and have spoken of the agonizing problems that this creates for them in their personal relationships and social life and in the congregations of many churches.

For me, these experiences have been more mind-shattering than any theoretical discussion of the issues could ever be. It has been confirmed to me again and again that discussions on the topic of homosexuality have little value unless the participants are personally aware that they are not talking of abstract ideas but of actual people, many of whom they know and admire. For whether we recognize it or not, discussions about homosexuality are about people –“

“It is not too late for Members of Parliament to take a truly moral stand and support the families of New Zealanders by voting for the Civil Union Bill.

ENDS

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