Thursday, March 04, 2010

The Bishops...

of England and Wales have issued a statement that looks ahead to the forthcoming General Election. It's not particularly thrilling or inspiring, but makes some good points: after an introduction by Archp Vincent Nichols, and some preliminary general comments about the need for trust in society, and the importance of virtue, the first section on a specific topic is headed LIFE ITSELF and states:
"The principle of the common good requires that the essential
dignity of every human life is upheld because our life is not
our property to dispose of but a gift to treasure. When this
principle is abandoned, then a zero has been introduced
into the calculation of the common good. The abortion
of the unborn, and euthanasia even when voluntary, are
a fundamental denial of this principle, because both are
concerned with exclusion from the human community,
both are contrary to the common good."


There is also a good section on marriage - although it might have been wise to spell out that by "marriage" is meant the union of one man and one woman with the intention of becoming a family together.

I understand a more detailed document will be issued nearer to the Election.

Meanwhile, here is Auntie's take on the continuing discussion about sex education...

1 comment:

Malcolm Mclean said...

I'm a biologist/biochemist.
The irony is that in fact we are not teaching good, secular, scientific sex education. In most sexually-reproducing species, there is asymmetry between males and females. Basically males compete to have as many offspring as possible, whilst females try to mate with as high-quality males as possible. Details vary from species to species, but this is very important in understanding their behaviour.

How far we can apply the normal biology of behaviour to humans is a deep question, but it is clear that to some extent these biological principles also apply.

However try to get that taught in schools, and what reaction will you get?