Sophistry on faith-based discrimination - 7 comments

I've come to this quite late, but I might as well set out some of my own views, for the record. To start off, though, Andrew at Wongablog has an excellent post on the Archbishops of York and Canterbury's defence of "individual conscience" in matters of sexuality-based discrimination. Here's a stand-out sentence:

I’m not criticising her [Ruth Kelly] because of her faith affiliation, I’m criticising her because her arguments make no sense. [...] But I wouldn’t say she’s not fit to hold public office - she gives every impression of being a very intelligent and competent woman, it’s just that the evidence seems to suggest she has a blind spot when it comes to faith-related matters.

I might have summarised the issue as simply as this:

Treating people differently on the sole basis of their sexual orientation is a clear breach of universal human rights. End of story.

A couple of supplementary points, though. Given that there are no limits on faith, and no mechanism through which they can be evaluated conclusively (by definition), it should be obvious that we cannot accept one faith-based argument without accepting all such arguments, including contradictory ones. So until the various Churches decide to use moral, or practical arguments (based upon evidence), or else insist upon an individual's general right to discriminate as their conscience demands, their call for individual consciences to trump our moral principles in particular cases, is without any merit whatsoever. What's particularly pitiful is that the Archbishops are either unwilling or unable to use the teachings of their own religion to bolster their case, so meek are they. Aware that none of the above strategies can extricate them from their impossible position, they resort to sophistry in an attempt to steal the argument, covering their backs to avoid direct criticism, perhaps hoping the political heat might tell on ministers. What reasonable people they are - how cold we must be:

Those discussions have been conducted in good faith, in mutual respect and with an appropriate level of confidence on all sides. [...] As you approach the final phase of what has, until very recently, been a careful and respectful consideration [...]

I'm ashamed to say that I consulted Nick Robinson's blog for the "talk among the backbenches", and found something almost as ludicrous as the Archbishops' statements (my emphasis):

[...] Allow me to delicately suggest, however, that the attitudes being displayed now towards Catholics in public life must feel to them like a form of prejudice and discrimination.

Saints preserve us! We really should display this more prominently: