TONY Abbott criticised Islam for the fact that it had not had a Reformation or Enlightenment and was, as a result, in a kind of cultural Dark Ages.
Kristina Keneally, former Liberal Opposition Leader and now commentator, returned fire, arguing that Catholicism had resisted the Reformation on the free and critical interpretation of scripture and that enlightenment modernity – think for yourself – was entirely absent in traditional views on homosexuality; marriage, divorce and communion; gender equality and contraception.
This is a more complex discussion than a couple of newspaper articles. However, it does deserve serious study.
My main concern, as a Catholic, is to what extent we can take contemporary modernity on board and still maintain our traditional views on a number of the issues raised by Keneally. This also seems to be a concern for the Catholic Church, in Australia and elsewhere, where its views are robustly being tested by a fast changing society with little or no tolerance for what seems like prejudice. This is the case with the so-called marriage equality debate.
I encourage you to keep abreast of these issues because, as it stands, there will be a plebiscite on “same-sex marriage” after the next election and we will all be asked to make a stand on this issue.