Stephen Law

KAMPALA, Uganda — Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda’s capital to give a series of talks.... ( read on at New York Times ). Thanks to Josh Kutchinsky.

The Archbishop of York has condemned proposals in Uganda to put to death gay people who have sex with a minor. John Sentamu, who was born in the African country, said anti-homosexual laws being debated were "victimising". A private member's bill going through Uganda's parliament would see gays and lesbians sentenced to life in prison if convicted of having sex. Continues ...

Delhi High Court legalizes homosexuality 2 Jul 2009, 1050 hrs IST, TIMESOFINDIA.COM NEW DELHI: In a historic judgement, the Delhi High Court on Thursday decriminalized homosexuality by striking down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The Section 377 of the IPC as far as it criminalizes gay sex among consenting adults is violation of fundamental rights, said the high court. Any kind of discrimination is anti-thesis of right to equality, said the court, while allowing plea of gay rights activists for decriminalization of homosexuality. A bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S Muralidhar said that if not amended, section 377 of the IPC would violate Article 21 of the Indian constitution, which states that every citizen has equal opportunity of life and is equal before law. Section 377, a law from the British Raj era, says homosexuality and "unnatural sex" is a criminal act. While the home ministry wanted the petition to be dismissed, the health ministry suppor...

Actor Sir Ian McKellen has criticised faith schools, reports the Guardian here . "It [religion] is the one area where people are not frightened to be openly homophobic," he said. He is quite right, and of course right that some faith schools are teaching that homosexuality is a sin. Some promote that view exclusively. Others will present it as one of a range of views. In the print version of this article, it said "The Church of England said its schools explored the issue of homosexuality, rather than promoted one view of it." Ibrahim Hewitt of the Association of Muslim Schools said "A faith school reflects its faith in what is taught, but I would expect other views to be discussed as well." Oh, that's alright then - as long as other views are discussed. Well no it's not all right. The truth is that homophobia (I'd prefer to call it "homosexism", as it isn't a phobia) like racism and sexism, involves demonstrably false beliefs, and...

I have had a chat going on about Catholics, condoms and HIV with onthesideoftheangels, here (scroll down) He defends the Catholic Church's position not to recommend condom use (except in v special medical circumstances), not even in Africa, where, I suspect, they might save millions of lives by blocking the transmission of HIV. Thought it now worth dragging into the main postings. Here's my latest comment: So now let's suppose condoms are 90% effective in preventing infection. That seems an underestimate, in fact. Here's one quote I found: "In a study of discordant couples in Europe, among 123 couples who reported consistent condom use, none of the uninfected partners became infected." Seems condoms are pretty effective in preventing infection when used properly, doesn't it? In which case, were those having sex outside of marriage in Africa to use them, millions of cases of infection could be prevented. That is current medical opinion, isn't it (at ...

Here's a chpt of my book The Philosophy Gym on homosexuality. Mr Jarvis, a Christian, was asleep in bed, dreaming of the Last Judgement. In his dream, Jarvis found himself seated next to God in a great cloud-swept hall. God had just finished handing down judgement on the drunkards, who were slowly shuffling out of the exit to the left. Angels were now ushering a group of nervous-looking men through the entrance to the right. As the men were assembled before Him, God began to speak. God: So who’s next? Ah, yes, the active homosexuals . So tell me, Jarvis, what shall we do with them? Jarvis: You’re going to punish them, aren’t you? God: Why do you say that? Jarvis: Because to engage in homosexual behaviour is wrong, of course. The Appeal to The Bible God gently rubbed his chin and looked quizzically at Jarvis. God. Wrong? Is it wrong? Jarvis: Yes. You say so yourself in The Bible. God: Ah. The Bible. Jarvis: Yes. Look right here. “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: ...

Thought I would try a bit of a draft out on the blog, for feedback. All comments gratefully received. No doubt I've got at least some details wrong re the Catholic Church's position... AQUINAS AND SEXUAL ETHICS Aquinas’s thinking remains hugely influential within the Catholic Church. In particular, his ideas concerning sexual ethics still heavily shape Church teaching. It is on these ideas that we focus here. In particular, I will look at Aquinas’s justification for morally condemning homosexual acts. When homosexuality is judged to be morally wrong, the justification offered is often that homosexuality is, in some sense, “unnatural”. Aquinas develops a sophisticated version of this sort of argument. The roots of the argument lie in thinking of Aristotle, whom Aquinas believes to be scientifically authoritative. Indeed, one of Aquinas’s over-arching aims was to show how Aristotle’s philosophical system is broadly compatible with Christian thought. I begin with a sketch of Arist...