Friday, January 26, 2007

Gay Adoption - the problem.

I am not a Catholic and I believe in equality. Why then, do I take the view that the Catholic Adoption agencies should be exempted from new gay rights legislation which would make it an offence for Catholic Adoption Agencies to refuse to place children with gay couples?

Most selection procedures are by definition a series of 'discriminatory' processes where certain people are automatically excluded while others are considered. These may or may not be entirely fair but are a necessary way of whittling down potential applicants. Hence 'graduate trainee' immediately excludes (discriminates against) non graduates even though some of those may be suitable for the job.

My understanding is that the Catholic agencies exist to find Catholic homes for children on the basis that the Children they place will be given a Catholic upbringing. It seems reasonable to allow them to pick couples who are within a marital unit that their Church recognises as an essential ingredient to a Catholic lifestyle; and thereby automatically excluding those who don't - including gay couples.

There was not a crisis here, it's hardly as if thousands of gay Catholic couples have been clamouring to adopt kids and can't; even the Catholic agencies don't deny these couples rights - they refer them to other agencies.

Well, I guess the mess is the Governments own making for yet again taking the law into places it shouldn't go.

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