Sin and the law

[alexist]

I'm not a Ruth Kelly fan as a rule, but I think the cover of today's Independent is a bit unfair. It's one of those questions that's unanswerable. If she says homosexuality is a sin, she's seen as unfit to deal with questions of equality. If she says it isn't, no one will believe her anyway, or will accuse her of cherry-picking Catholic teachings.

Personally, I'd say that sin is a theological issue and not a political one. My faith says that eating pork is a sin, but I'm not going to vote against pig farmers. I can accept a literal reading of Leviticus on the matter of gay sex, but that doesn't justify discrimination or homophobia.

Sometimes I wonder if the openly religious can ever win when it comes to these issues. That said, Kelly hasn't made it any easier on herself by repeatedly missing votes on the issue.

Comments

[mooism.livejournal.com]

Pig farmers have not been and are not discriminated against in this country in the same way that homosexuals have been in the past and still are today. I think that homosexuals are justified in being at least worried that the Equality Minister thinks homosexuality is bad and wrong.

I vaguely remember a fuss was kicked up a few years ago when a vegetarian was appointed as a minor agriculture minister; meat farmers claimed a vegetarian could not possibly deal with them fairly. I think that died down pretty quickly.

[arosoff.livejournal.com]

True, I was just thinking of other prohibitions from Leviticus. And I don't blame people for being worried--I just think that the question as phrased was unfair and unanswerable. The issue is not whether she thinks it's a sin (a theological question) but whether or how it will affect her political actions.

New York's governor for 12 years was Mario Cuomo, who was an observant Catholic. He steadfastly refused to let his religion influence his politics. It got him into trouble with the Church because he refused to change abortion laws (New York has one of the most liberal laws in the country). He believed that his private beliefs should be separate from public policy and I've always agreed with that.

[mooism.livejournal.com]

But then plenty of religious politicians say their religious convictions inform their political beliefs.

[arosoff.livejournal.com]

yes, but that's the question: Not what her theology is, but how far she lets it inform her poltitical beliefs. The question was theologically based. If I do accept a literal reading of Leviticus, I can still justifiably oppose a return to banning sodomy. For me, the important question is not "Is homosexuality a sin?" (though it makes a good headline) but "Do you support equal rights for gays and lesbians?"