Thursday, March 24, 2011

Does the Vatican support anti-gay violence?

Recently, the Vatican  spoke out against the United Nations statement which condemns international homophobia:

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi says "people are being attacked for taking positions that do not support sexual behavior between people of the same sex," he said to the Human Rights Council, according to Reuters. "When they express their moral beliefs or beliefs about human nature ... they are stigmatised, and worse -- they are vilified, and prosecuted."

The Vatican isn't the only so-called religious entity to speak against the resolution, which is supported by the Obama Administration. Yesterday, the Family Research Council posted an opposing statement which claimed to express dismay over any violence perpetrated against the lgbt community but then gave support to the countries which perpetrate this violence:

Our global neighbors have the freedom to believe that homosexuality is wrong--just as they have the freedom to legislate against any behavior they think is harmful to society.

The Vatican seems to be taking a page out of FRC's playbook by intentionally ignoring that in some countries, folks aren't merely expressing a "moral belief" about homosexuality.

In South Africa, lesbians are subjected to "corrective rape."

In some countries, gay men are chased and beaten by mobs.

And in one country in particular (Uganda) - they will begin debating legislation to imprison and possibly execute people for being lgbt.

The UN resolution does not attack countries which simply express a moral belief against homosexuality. The resolution specifically calls out those so-called expressions which advocate violence against the lgbt community.

I don't put it past FRC to intentionally distort the situation, but for the Vatican to do this is highly shameful. The FRC has built a reputation in part for falsely claiming victimhood. The Vatican represents the Catholic community, which has genuinely been persecuted throughout history.

Instead of issuing deceptive statements, the Vatican needs to explain why it's not showing empathy for true victims of persecution in this matter rather than the perpetrators.



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