I just thought I would post some musings on the passing of the same-sex marriage referendum here in Ireland and on the campaign that went on beforehand.
I’m not going to dissect the referendum myself. I’m not particularly interested in blogging about the specifics of the culture wars here in Ireland. The copy of the Irish Catholic that came out after the result did a good job of that and anybody interested in analysis should go there.
Instead, I want to raise a few concerns on my mind after the whole campaign.
The victors have labelled it a defeat for the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Of course, this shouldn’t bother us. We were never promised that we would win every battle, only that Christ and His Church would triumph in the end.
What does bother me is how far we’ve moved, and how we’ve responded to it as a Church in Ireland.
To begin with, the Yes side made many convincing arguments about the legal implications of the referendum and how it would change very little. Convincing, I say, not because gay marriage doesn’t mark a profound shift in how we conceive of marriage, but because that shift has already happened. We’ve simply added gay people to this soluble, adult-oriented institution we refer to as civil marriage. Marriage has already been gutted.
For example, there is the fact that surrogacy was a key component of the No campaign’s argument. But if children deserve a mother and a father, why not tackle the issue of adoption by gay couples?
Because it’s already happening. Unmarried couples, single people, you name it, are already adopting here in Ireland. Child-rearing has already been separated from matrimony, just as procreation has. During the referendum, attempts by the No side to point out the link between procreation and marriage were rebutted by those who pointed out that many couples who got married didn’t bother having children.
More than that, the tax benefits associated with marriage have dwindled, supposedly to prevent discrimination against cohabitating couples. We’ve already axed the indissoluble nature of marriage with the passing of the divorce referendum in 1995.
I think that this referendum should be seen simply as a symbolic victory for a view of marriage, sexuality and procreation that has already been dominant in our country for some time now.
So to sum up my first point: marriage has already been completely gutted in this country. What can be done to reverse this? I think the best thing the laity who are not directly involved in ministering to married couples can do is to pour their efforts into strengthening and sanctifying their own marriages (assuming, of course, that that’s the path they are called to. We can’t forget about those God calls to the single life).
On to my second point.
Now, there are a few difficulties which this referendum presents us with. The first of course is outright persecution, by which I mean not ISIS-style beheadings but rather the inevitability of more court cases along the lines of the Asher’s Bakery case in the North directed at Christians who refuse to provide services for same-sex marriage ceremonies. Perhaps this is better termed ‘Persecution Lite.’ However I think that this is the least of our problems overall.
There’s a second issue, upon which I’m quite conflicted. On the one hand, it’s crucially important that the Church stand up for the institution of marriage, as it did during the referendum. I heard some who were dissatisfied with the level of the bishops’ response as being too milk-and-water, but in general I thought that they didn’t do too bad of a job for the most part. Their voices were heard, and they were generally heard to be reasonable, even if once or twice I wish that certain members of the hierarchy hadn’t rowed back or being a little cagey about the issue.
But here’s the problem: We now have a situation where a radical shift has taken place, and Catholic teaching on sexuality is no longer seen as just a bit of a weird thing, which is alright if you’re into it, as long as you don’t force it on anyone. Rather, Church teaching on sexuality is now seen as positively evil and unenlightened. The fact that those who believe this usually haven’t properly engaged with the Church’s arguments is beside the point. What worries me is that we now have a situation where the Church’s teaching is seen as being so off-putting and repulsive that the average Irish person who’s not into their faith all that much won’t even consider Catholicism. The perception of the teaching has become a barrier to getting to know Jesus Christ in His Church.
So what’s the solution? Let me rule out changing the teaching. It can’t be done; it reflects reality, and reality doesn’t alter itself to suit our feelings. Some teachings are always going to be difficult and we have to learn to embrace them regardless because ultimately they are what leads us to God.
So how do we both remain faithful to the Church’s teaching on marriage, and also bypass the prejudices that have emerged against it during the referendum campaign?
It occurs to me that the Church needs to take a different tack and place less emphasis upon the culture war issues such as gay marriage, at least in its outreach at a grassroots level. Statements can still be made about such issues at a hierarchical level (as will be necessary with the oncoming onslaught of pro-abortion/euthanasia propaganda coming) but perhaps what’s needed is an attempt to make conversions, bring people first to know and love God, and then their hearts will be more receptive to the difficult teachings.
The how is the critical question.
By Grace and Banners Fallen 