philosophy fail
cross-posted to DW.
Norwegian philosopher Nina Karin Monsen has been awarded this years "Free Word" Award which includes 400.000 NOK. Conservative "Høyre"-representative Oktay Dahl thinks Monsen has been harassing gays in the media for years. The Free Word committee states that they chose her as an example of the cost it can bring to participate with independent opinions in a public debate that is characterized by self-censure and a fear of touching incendiary topics and that "Her point is not to attack homosexuals, but to defend marriage as a sacrament".
I wonder what the big deal is and search for more information. The first thing I come across is an interview in Dagbladet. In response to a question about gays having children she says this "They are as different as everybody else. If they are mature, sensible and have love to give, it doesn't matter what sexuality one has".A subsequent paragraph gives a scathing criticism of the Norwegian welfare state; calling it a charade indulged in by self-congratulatory national romanticists.
So far I'm loving this person. That is, until I come across her chronicles at the Preserve Marriage website. Here she writes that a gender neutral marriage law goes against both the Norwegian constitution and the European Human Rights Convention because no religion accepts homosexuality and a gender neutral law is an offence to and discriminates against religious people. She also claims that the new law retroactively invalidates all previous religious marriages and that the law can only be accepted and used by people who deny the existence of God.
So basically she thinks it is morally preferable to discriminate against queers than to take away some of the privilege given to the Norwegian Church for innumerable years. In the end it comes down to semantics yet again. Marriage vs. Civil Union or Partnerships. Monsen did not seem to care at all when gay marriage was called civil unions. When it comes to that particular argument I think I'll just quote Jon Stewart from his interview with Mike Huckabee: "semantics is cold comfort when it comes to humanity".
♥ Jon.
Norwegian philosopher Nina Karin Monsen has been awarded this years "Free Word" Award which includes 400.000 NOK. Conservative "Høyre"-representative Oktay Dahl thinks Monsen has been harassing gays in the media for years. The Free Word committee states that they chose her as an example of the cost it can bring to participate with independent opinions in a public debate that is characterized by self-censure and a fear of touching incendiary topics and that "Her point is not to attack homosexuals, but to defend marriage as a sacrament".
I wonder what the big deal is and search for more information. The first thing I come across is an interview in Dagbladet. In response to a question about gays having children she says this "They are as different as everybody else. If they are mature, sensible and have love to give, it doesn't matter what sexuality one has".A subsequent paragraph gives a scathing criticism of the Norwegian welfare state; calling it a charade indulged in by self-congratulatory national romanticists.
So far I'm loving this person. That is, until I come across her chronicles at the Preserve Marriage website. Here she writes that a gender neutral marriage law goes against both the Norwegian constitution and the European Human Rights Convention because no religion accepts homosexuality and a gender neutral law is an offence to and discriminates against religious people. She also claims that the new law retroactively invalidates all previous religious marriages and that the law can only be accepted and used by people who deny the existence of God.
So basically she thinks it is morally preferable to discriminate against queers than to take away some of the privilege given to the Norwegian Church for innumerable years. In the end it comes down to semantics yet again. Marriage vs. Civil Union or Partnerships. Monsen did not seem to care at all when gay marriage was called civil unions. When it comes to that particular argument I think I'll just quote Jon Stewart from his interview with Mike Huckabee: "semantics is cold comfort when it comes to humanity".
♥ Jon.