Pope: Gay marriage a 'threat to humanity'
Still rather than discuss the issues raised by the Pope in an adult manner the easiest thing to do is to change the subject. Update: Thanks to a link provided by Zen in a comment I have read the Popes speech which talks of many substantive things.
It does not mention Gay Marriage at all!
In a section discussing education the Pope says
Pope Benedict says gay marriage is one of several threats to the traditional family that undermines "the future of humanity itself".Raw meat tossed to enlightened 21st century types who think that babies come from the cabbage patch or something. And from whence they may be distributed to "parents" who want them regardless of gender and/or sexual identity.
The pope made some of his strongest comments against gay marriage in a new year address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican in which he touched on some economic and social issues facing the world today.
He told diplomats from nearly 180 countries that the education of children needed proper "settings" and that "pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman''.
Still rather than discuss the issues raised by the Pope in an adult manner the easiest thing to do is to change the subject.
It does not mention Gay Marriage at all!
In a section discussing education the Pope says
(Education) thus represents a task of primary importance in this difficult and demanding time. In addition to a clear goal, that of leading young people to a full knowledge of reality and thus of truth, education needs settings. Among these, pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman. This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself. The family unit is fundamental for the educational process and for the development both of individuals and States; hence there is a need for policies which promote the family and aid social cohesion and dialogue.The fact that the Pope needs to clarify the genders involved in marriage is a sign of the times. Until the turn of the 21st century, a mere 11 years ago now when discussing a marriage it would have been assumed that it was of a man and a woman and not something that needed to be stated explicitly.