This letter is in response to another in the last WEEKEND NATION by Daley Reece under the title Gay Rights And Morality.
The author attempts to persuade us that we should oppose the legalisation of buggery (between consenting adults) because in his view, it is an immoral act.
While I appreciate his viewpoint and understand his logic at arriving at his conclusion, I cannot in principle agree with his conclusion. Like others before him, they try to use their Christian views to substantiate their position, based on morality.
What they fail to understand is that morality alone is not the most important factor; that distinction goes to the word democracy.
Democracy can be defined as a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives, or the practice or principles of social equality. Thus, in a democratic society, all members of that society have a say in what they determine as right and wrong (morality).Â
That being said, I’m afraid that Mr Reece and others with his thinking are faced with a dilemma. How can they persuade enough of us to think like them, so that they can continue to criminalise an act between consenting adults in the sanctity of their homes?
As a proponent of democracy, I’m afraid that I cannot acquiesce to their logic, as it goes against everything that a democracy stands for.
Consenting adults should not be placed in prison and their lives ruined because a section of our society believes that their moral rights or religious views should supersede the rights of others.
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Draconian
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I have no problem with people expressing their views. What I have a problem with are those persons who seek to use certain sections of The Bible as a basis for their draconian views.
Live your life the way you believe you should live it. Let others decide the way they want to live theirs. In the end, God, not man, will judge us all.
– PETER DOTTIN
