THE TABLET
THE INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY Founded in 1840
MARRIAGE A LA MODE T
hroughout the West, the issue of gay marriage has been used as the spearhead of a secularising agenda, propelled by those who want to rid modern civilisa- tion of all traces of its Christian roots. Paradoxically,
within the gay community itself the most vociferous support- ers of gay marriage have been gay Christians, who want to be given an equal place in the life of Christian institutions rather than to overthrow them. Both these views are reflected in church reactions to government proposals in response to gay pres- sure, for instance for allowing a religious element in civil partnership ceremonies – at present forbidden by law – and even allowing a partnership or marriage ceremony in a church or synagogue. The Quakers, some liberal synagogues and the Unitarian Church would welcome that permission. There is apparently no question at this time of the Roman Catholic Church, for instance, being forced to conduct gay wed- dings against its principles, though it could just conceivably find itself eventually facing damages claims from aggrieved Catholic gay couples. Nevertheless, all would be touched by a change in the basic law of marriage to make it include same- sex partners. None more so than the Church of England. On account of its established status as a national Church, it has a strong stake in keeping the law of marriage in as close prox- imity to Christian teaching as possible. But this can work both ways. If the law conforms to public opinion as channelled through Parliament rather than to traditional Christian teaching, over gay marriage or over some other issue, the Church of England will face a keen dilemma.
It was clear from the debate over the ordination of women that many Anglicans do not think their Church can let itself fall too far behind changing social norms. It may even per- suade itself that what was demanded from it was in fact Christian: in this case, that Christian teaching is after all com- patible with gay marriage. But this is Erastianism by another name – adjusting church doctrine in response to changes in secular opinion is in principle no different from making church doctrine subservient to secular rulers. If that is the price of establishment, it is too high. Public opinion cannot be relied on as a source of moral author-
ity. The consensus at any time may favour the restoration of capital punishment; not so long ago it wanted homosexuals locked up; nineteenth-century public opinion did not think women should have the vote; eighteenth-century public opin- ion supported slavery. There were Christian voices involved in the reform of all those positions, but they were voices of protest grounded in Scripture, tradition and natural law, not of conformity to prevailing social norms. The time may have come to accept that there will have to be at least two understandings of marriage side by side, and that each should go its own way. As in Europe, it is perfectly viable to have church marriage validated by religious author- ities and secular marriage validated by state authorities, and for a couple that wishes to, to undergo both forms. Then there would no longer be any suggestion that the secular form of marriage is part of the Christian legacy. There are grounds, indeed, for doubting whether it has been so for some time.
FIRST FEED THE HUNGRY O
ne of Britain’s leading supermarkets is currently run- ning a television advertising campaign, boasting that its shoppers can feed a family five main meals for just £20. Ever since Jack Cohen, the founder of one
of its retail rivals, Tesco, adopted the motto “pile ’em high and sell ’em cheap”, the British have enjoyed low food prices, thanks to the competition of the big supermarket chains. But the days of affordable food may be numbered. With infla- tion running at 4 per cent in Britain, the nation’s housekeeping accounts have suffered a blow. This week the World Bank warned that food prices have risen by almost a third in the past year. Wheat is up 110 per cent in the past 12 months, corn 87 per cent, and soya 60 per cent. The Bank also warned that around 44 million people, who spend around half their income on food, have been pushed into poverty by these soaring commodity prices. Many of them, in the developing world, face starvation.With food prices spiking in this way, organisations such as the World Bank will need to work hard to help people through short- term measures such as nutrition programmes and long-term ones such as more investment in agriculture including irri- gation projects and adaptations to climate change. Solving global food problems requires tough challenges to
be met. If demand for foodstuffs whose production involves the most intensive use of resources is to be limited, for exam- ple, then the people of the West and newly-affluent China will have to curb their appetite for meat. And Westerners might also have to eat less exotic fare: demand for luxury products such as asparagus has caused water supplies to run dry in some
2 | THE TABLET | 19 February 2011
countries, jeopardising more basic goods. Agencies such as the Catholic aid organisation, Progressio, advocate that local is best, encouraging farmers in the developing world to focus atten- tion on growing traditional crops to feed themselves and boosting them in the age-old way with manure and compost as fertiliser. That is a simple solution, but now that food is global big busi- ness, other ideas, pushed by multinationals, may prove seductive. Giant technology companies claim that the solution is through the development of high-tech seeds. Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has warned that this amounts to a form of slavery, making poor farmers dependent on multinationals. Jean Ziegler, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has used similarly strong language in his critique of the way the global food system causes hardship to the poorest, calling it “structural violence”. Whether Mr Zeigler deliberately wanted to echo the idea of structural sin is unclear, but the sentiment – of degrading, oppressing or excluding others – is similar. Mr Ziegler’s ire was partly aimed at speculators who have focused increasingly heavily on foodstuffs and driven up prices. It may be well nigh impossible to stop them doing so, other than through public disclosure and embar- rassment. Fortunately, that may become easier in the spring, when new European Union rules will force major investors in commodities to come clean about their holdings. If the supermarket shopper is also facing escalating prices, then the morality of the global food system will become not a distant issue but one that is much closer to home.
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