Gay unions 'like virus' in Spain

CNN ^

[narses]

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- The Catholic Church blasted the Socialist government's plans to legalize gay marriage, saying Monday it would be like releasing a "virus" into Spanish society. The Cabinet is expected Friday to pass a bill allowing same sex marriages, setting predominantly Roman Catholic Spain on course to join the vanguard of largely secular northern European countries that allow gay marriage or some version of it. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero took office in April with an ambitious agenda of social reforms, such as streamlined divorce and a relaxed abortion law. The church is furious, and spoke out Monday with some of its harshest words yet on one of Zapatero's boldest endeavors, gay marriage. Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, spokesman for the Spanish Bishops Conference, said the church had nothing against homosexuals but feels a union of two people of the same sex is simply not a marriage. Allowing this would create "a counterfeit currency in the body of society," Martinez Camino said in an interview on Spanish National Television. Such legislation, he said, is like "imposing a virus on society, something false that will have negative consequences for social life." After Friday's expected approval in a Cabinet meeting, the bill goes to Parliament for debate. Zapatero runs a minority government but is generally supported by two small leftist parties. The government says once the bill becomes law, gays would be able to start marrying next year. That would mark a sea change for this predominantly Roman Catholic country, although church officials admit that support for it has fallen in the generation that's transpired since the death in 1975 of Gen. Francisco Franco, whose right wing regime was closely linked to the church. Polls say nearly half of Spain's Catholics almost never go to Mass, and ...

[narses]

The war on the Church continues.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Time for a coup d'etat again. Where's Generallissimo Franco when we need him ?

[COEXERJ145]

The Spanish people are getting what they deserved. Not only did they surrender to Al-Qaeda by voting in the socialists but they also flushed their society's morals down the tolet at the same time.

[Torie]

You don't like majority rule I take it? Calm down.

[dila813]

The church (Rome) made its bed, now it has to sleep with it. They compromised their values at every turn, now they are a facade.

[NewJerseyJoe]

> The war on the Church continues.

If the Church had remained Catholic for the last 40 years, none of this would be happening.

A rising tide lifts all boats -- when the Church stopped being the "leaven" of society, she dragged the whole world down with her.

[cyborg]

Heh... why did I think of the effect the birth control pill had on American society when I read this?

[Lexinom]

Not just their moral fabric, but their heritage.

[little jeremiah]

Homosexual Agenda Ping... Yup, Europe's going down the tubes. It's like watching a slow suicide, suicide by degrees. I hope there's a sufficient number of rightminded people trying to put a stop to the descent into the abyss.

Let me and Scripter know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.

Note this:

"the church had nothing against homosexuals but feels a union of two people of the same sex is simply not a marriage."

I object to the use of the word "feels" - anyone can FEEL anything. Feelings are not the gauge of morality, rightness, wrongness, or truth. Feelings are suspect and only useful when dealing with kittens and puppies, and even then not necessarily valid. Feelings are only good when serving truth; otherwise they can (and often do) lead otherwise intelligent people down the garden path.

I'm not saying feelings are worthless; just that emotion devoid of a solid foundation of truth and wisdom can and does lead people astray - very, very astray sometimes.

[absinthe]

Where's Generallissimo Franco when we need him ?

According to Chevy Chase, he's still dead.

[NYer]

The Catholic Church blasted the Socialist government's plans to legalize gay marriage, saying Monday it would be like releasing a "virus" into Spanish society.

The official position of the Catholic Church on Gay Unions:
CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION TO UNIONS BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

[JesseHousman]

Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, spokesman for the Spanish Bishops Conference, said the church had nothing against homosexuals...

What about the fact that it's disgustingly sinful and the goal of the homosexuals and their filthy agenda is to get their hands on children?

[kittymyrib]

All the Spanish chickens who voted with their emotions after the Muslims attacked have allowed the anti-God left to take over their country. When homosexuals from all over the world flock to Spain to get married and settle there, it will be like living in Sodom and Gomorrah. I do feel sorry for the minority who used their brains and were outvoted. Hopefully, they will be able to immigrate to a better place.

[Aquinasfan]

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero took office in April with an ambitious agenda of social reforms, such as streamlined divorce and a relaxed abortion law.

"Reforms"? Who said that there's bias in the media?

[Jaded]

Gee, that was quick.

[Jaded]

Polls say nearly half of Spain's Catholics almost never go to Mass, and a third say they are simply not religious.

Then only about 1/6 of Spain is actually Catholic. It's faith not genealogy.

[Jimbaugh]

WWII started in Spain and WWIII looks like it going be starting up soon.

Why are the homo's always at the core of the attack on society?

[little jeremiah]

Posted here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1229183/posts?page=2

with paragraphs.

[WashingtonSource]

I don't think it's that low, one sixth. The sentence is obviously poorly written riddled with bias. Almost half the Catholics rarely go to Mass. In other words, about half the Catholic population DOES go to mass fairly regularly.

The next sentence is even more confusing: About one-third does not consider itself religious. I think what they may mean is that one third of CATHOLICS do not consider themselves religious, since the sentence appears to be referring to the "it" in the previous sentence - the "it" being Catholics, not the whole population.