Newspeaking of love

George Orwell  statue unveiled outside BBC Broadcasting House                                                                                                                    Source: Telegraph

The First Minister of Scotland sounded utterly convinced that only her views could possibly be correct when offering her "unequivocal" apology to gay men convicted of sexual offences that are no longer illegal.

She said "the simple fact was that parliamentarians in Scotland had, over many decades, supported or at least accepted laws which "we now recognise to have been completely unjust... Hundreds of people in Scotland were liable to be convicted as criminals, simply for loving another adult."

If Ms Sturgeon feels secure enough to condemn previous law makers as in error, why did she twist the facts? She was correct only in that it took law makers in Scotland more than a decade to catch up with reforms to the law in England and Wales in 1976.

My understanding of the legislation to which she objected was that convictions were not for loving another adult but for buggery. The law was changed after the Wolfenden report recommended that "homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence".

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 granted civil partnerships rights and responsibilities in the United Kingdom very similar to civil marriage. A reform welcomed across the political spectrum but not good enough for activists who demand that marriage be redefined in the name of supposed equality.

The LGBT lobby has had considerable success with newspeak. Constant repetition of the words 'love' and 'equality' in relation to same sex marriage has provided a smokescreen to achieve an objective which undermines the basis of family live, the joining together of a man and a woman for the procreation of children without which civilisation as we know it would end.

But what about infertile couples? they claim, before advocating adoption by gay couples, the use of surrogates and more recently, womb transplants allowing men to have babies. There is little if any thought for the effects in later life on the children resulting from such unions.

Gay couples can live together in circumstances similar to civil marriage without fear of prosecution but acceptance has turned into demands. Now the tail wags the dog. Even Anglican bishops are content to demean the sanctity of marriage by agreeing to legitimise that which is contrary to Christian teaching.

The First Minister's misuse of the word love was a precursor to linking same sex marriage with equality, condemning supporters of traditional marriage as lacking integrity, wisdom, compassion and justice using words such as wrong, homophobia, hate, fear, discrimination, prejudice and bigotry, the implication being that opponents of same sex marriage are bigoted, prejudiced people who lack compassion and a sense of justice.

There is no justice in condemning people simply for having an opposing view. In years to come as the Church crumbles and society further disintegrates, another First Minister could be standing in Ms Sturgeon's place condemning others for supporting or at least accepting laws which "we now recognise" to have been completely stupid.

Ladies first

"Bishops' hat-trick"                                                                                   Photo: Church in Wales

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” ― George Orwell, 1984.

For older Anglicans the year '1984' is most likely to invoke memories of George Orwell's novel 'Nineteen eighty-four' but for 50% of the Bench of Bishops of the Church in Wales it is the year that they were ordained by the late Derrick Childs, former Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Monmouth, in his Cathedral - story here. Who could have imagined that all three would become bishops occupying half the Bench a generation later. Much has changed in the church since Derrick Childs was Archbishop.

In 1984 two were ordained deacon, the third, Gregory Cameron, was ordained priest. Since then he has been out in the world serving the wider Anglican Communion - see here - but not the rest of the Bench which is made up of local boys, safe pairs of hands becoming Barry's apparatchiks putting the ordination of women first before any ability (see here) to spread the Gospel or adding to the church. Inward investment has been limited at the highest levels to Barry's blunders here and here although he has achieved a remarkable success (in his terms) with a convert who has succeeded in robbing faithful Anglicans of the promise of an honoured place in the church secured by statute. 

Great Britain has not become the 1984 'Oceanian province of Airstrip One' but 'perpetual war' has broken out within the church and between church and society. This was summed up by the current Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan in 2007 when he said the new phenomenon of "atheistic fundamentalism" in British society was dangerous because it refused to allow any contrary viewpoint and affected public perception of religion. He went on to say: "All of this is what I would call the new "fundamentalism" of our age and any kind of fundamentalism, be it Biblical, atheistic or Islamic, is dangerous, because it allows no room for disagreement, for doubt, for debate, for discussion. It leads to the language of expulsion and exclusivity, of extremism and polarisation, and the claim that because God is on our side, He is not on yours."

The Church in Wales today no longer allows any contrary viewpoint, only expulsion and exclusivity. This was demonstrated by the Governing Body in its decision to make no statutory provision for anyone with a contrary viewpoint as it rubber stamped Dr Morgan's view of his church. The Archbishop should choose his words more carefully if he is to avoid charges of double standards.

“Big Brother is Watching You.”                      Photo: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” ― George Orwell, 1984