Bible bashers and the people who love them

Anyone who knows me knows that I am no friend to religion, and here is a perfect example of why:

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/man-and-wife-thats-best-for-baby-20100715-10c2b.html

The thrust of the article is this:

"Our society needs public encouragement to embrace those family forms that are best for children. We need to get serious about our public policy endeavours on behalf of children and promote the value of marriage, with its attendant public commitment, along with the value of biological connectivity for child wellbeing."

I don't think I would have a problem with religious belief as long as was purely a personal matter, confined to the sphere of spirituality for a particular individual or group. But I vehemently object to the role that religion seeks to play in:

- Holding religious rules to be a voice of moral authority for EVERYONE
- Seeking political power and influence over the setting of public policy for EVERYONE
- Lobbying to include religious considerations in fields completely unrelated to it but that effect EVERYONE, such as education and medicine

I notice that the author, Mr Chis Meney, also the director of the Life, Marriage and Family Centre in the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney declines to suggest any specific social policies that would support “desirable” family forms. Maybe that’s because some of these policies have had rather questionable results in the past, e.g.:

- Making divorce as difficult as possible
- Encouraging single mothers to give up their children to be raised in healthy, loving environments in religious institutions
- Taking children away from their indigenous parents and raising them in healthy, loving environments in state institutions

But I don’t mean to imply that there no new progressive ideas to solve the problem of undesirable family structures today. I am curious as to what he might suggest.... hhmmm... maybe abolition of welfare for single mothers would do for a start?