Friday October 23, 2020
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 23, 2020
Pope Francis should have a talk with Amy Coney Barrett about same-sex marriage
Pope Francis’s call for civil unions for same-sex couples is a welcome departure from the Roman Catholic Church’s long reluctance to embrace everyone as children of God regardless of their sexual orientation.
September 21, 2013
The pope’s remarks in the documentary “Francesco” reverberated everywhere as a major contradiction to the Vatican’s stance that marriage is between a man and a woman.
“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered,” the pope said in the documentary aired this week, in which he emphasized his views that gay people are children of God.
The puritans within the Catholic Church immediately asked for clarification, though Pope Francis was pretty clear that the marriage of gay people should be recognized under the law.
October 9, 2014
What Francis didn’t say is whether the Vatican will finally recognize and embrace gay people’s marriage just as it does with the union between a man and woman. That would be revolutionary.
It’s thrilling to hear the pope open his arms to everyone as children of God and lending support for same-sex couple civil unions.
It isn’t enough to settle the conflicting views of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics who look to the Vatican for guidance over morality, which they in turn use to sponsor, promote or oppose laws governing us here on earth.
October 3, 2013
But it is an important statement at a moment when many people in America are genuinely worried about the future of gay marriage and LGBTQ rights when the ultimate arbiter – the U.S. Supreme Court – will soon be packed with conservatives.
Those conservatives on the high court – and especially Amy Coney Barrett, the Catholic judge soon to be confirmed to the Supreme Court – should heed the pope’s advice.
After all, it’s what America wants.
Most Americans – 70% – support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marrylegally, according to the American Values Survey released this week. Twenty-eight percent oppose it.
Democrats and independents overwhelmingly support same-sex marriage, 80% to 76% respectively, while 50% of Republicans support it, the survey showed.
That tells me same-sex marriage has a good chance of remaining the law of the land. But just in case, Pope Francis should invite Amy Coney Barrett to the Vatican for a chat.
Good Catholics listen to the pope, right? (Arizona Republic)
![Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday August 27, 2016 The burkini is an option, not oppression, say those opposed to ban Recent attempts in France to ban the burkini have prompted protests and court challenges. Some of those who've defended the body-concealing swimsuit say that while they wouldn't wear one themselves and don't necessarily agree with the religious associations it carries, they will defend women's right to wear what they want. On Friday, the top court in France overturned one town's banÊon the burkini, a ruling that is likely to set a precedent across the country. The decision comes after several Muslim women were ordered to remove the body-covering swimwear on French beaches. Some burkini wearers were also issued fines. Sonu Kilam is the co-founder and designer at East Essence, an online store that sells modern and traditional Islamic clothes. East Essence started to sell burkinis about six years ago, she said, after receiving requests from customers Ñ specifically, Mormon customers Ñ who were looking for modest active wear. "[We] came across the burkini and thought, 'Perfect, it will work for all our customers,'" Kilam told CBC News from Newark, Calif. The company's various burkini options represent about 15 per cent of its sales, she said, and it's not only Muslim women ordering them. Kilam recently got an email from a Canadian woman who wrote, "It's hard for women like me who are 40 or older and don't feel comfortable showing skin to find swimwear in Canada.Ó Other burkini customers include women with skin conditions, Kilam said, and the company recently made a custom burkini for a plus-size woman who wanted something to wear for water aerobics. There have been reports that burkini sales have increased since the controversy started, but Kilam said she hasn't noticed any significant changes. (Source: CBC News)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/world/burkini-ban-follow-1.3736922 France, Burkini, Liberty, Equality, be](https://i0.wp.com/mackaycartoons.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-08-27.jpg?resize=700%2C574&ssl=1)
