The traditional marriage debate is not rational

Society and Marriage: Quid pro Quo : Dr Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture

...it makes no sense to provide the benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, a very simple and pragmatic reason: Society will gain no benefit from doing so. Heterosexual marriage generates families which constitute the fundamental unit of the social order. This is a great benefit to society as a whole. Indeed, it is the sine qua non of society, and it is a benefit provided at considerable sacrifice on the part of the married couple. In return for this benefit, all societies foster, encourage and protect marriage in various ways, including laws which make it financially easier for married couples to maintain their families. This arrangement is based on a quid pro quo which cannot be duplicated by same-sex couples.

By de-criminalizing contraception, society proceeded down a slippery slope which leads to the call for "marriage equality." Heterosexual marriages can remain as sterile as homosexual marriages. If you think children are "a great benefit to society as a whole", look at their treatment in the tax code which is how "society" can put its money where its mouth is. No, I don't think we can turn back the clock to pre-Griswald, but we can't pretend this is a rational debate either.

Cardinal Jose
Policarpo warns Catholic women

LISBON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Portugal's Cardinal Jose
Policarpo has warned young women
in the predominantly Catholic
nation against marrying Muslims.
"The advice that I
give to young Portuguese girls is -- be
careful with relationships, think twice about
marrying Muslims,"
the patriarch of Lisbon said.
"It is getting into a pile of
troubles, that not even Allah
knows where would end."

Policarpo made the
statement at a gathering on Tuesday
evening in a well-known casino that
organizes meetings of public
figures with paying guests. His comments were repeated
on
several television stations on Wednesday.

There are about 40,000 Muslims
in Portugal, which like
neighboring Spain was once ruled by Muslims from north
Africa,
where many Muslim immigrants come from.
The country's biggest Islamic
organization said it was upset
by the comments.

"We were in a way hurt by the
choice of words by the
patriarch of Lisbon about our community and about the
dialogue
that we have sought with all religious denominations, and
especially
with the Christian religions," the Islamic Community
of Lisbon said in a statement.

The Vatican discourages Catholic women from marrying Muslims
and Policarpo
echoed that position in blunt terms.
"I know that if a young European
of Christian background
marries a Muslim, as soon as they go to his country,
they'll be
subject to the regime of Muslim women," Policarpo said.
"Just
imagine it."
Policarpo, a leading cardinal who was tipped as a contender
in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict, also said
dialogue with Muslims
was not easy in Portugal.
"It is only possible to dialogue with those who want
to have
dialogue, for example with our Muslim brothers
dialogue is very
difficult," he said.

The Deacon's Bench: Catholic teacher loses job for marrying without annulment

I side with the school on this one. During the time I was contributing on a daily basis to this blog I covered the story of Michelle McCusker fired for refusing to get married after getting pregnant in defiance of the school's teacher's code of conduct to live according to Catholic teaching. The ACLU took up the case, I guess the ACLU lost because they last updated the case status in 2006.

Wedding bells for Cristiano Ronaldo?

Cristiano Ronaldo, the genius striker of Manchester United, plans to ask Nereida Gallardo step-dad for her hand in marriage according to reports by the gossip magazine Now.
Ronaldo's girlfriend, Spanish model is based in Majorca. Apparently the Manchester United winger is keen to settle down after last year's malicious gossip when he reportedly had a wild night at his home in Cheshire with five call girls.