The leading Roman Catholic cleric in the UK, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, made the rather bizarre statement recently that acceptance of same-sex marriage would be like legalizing slavery.The Cardinal has been railing against what he rather derisively refers to as "progress" in British society. He clearly doesn't mind being in a minority position. Even high-profile conservatives differ with him on the marriage issue. Not long ago British PM, David Cameron, told his party that he supported same-sex marriage because "I am a conservative."No matter what your views of same-sex marriage happen to be, most reasonable people would agree that using slavery to make a point about same-sex marriage is the far end of extreme. While the Cardinal may have been attempting to make a ham-fisted point to underscore his view that legalization does not make a "bad" thing, better - still the comparison will offend people. Same-sex marriage is a voluntary arrangement between loving adults. Slavery was/is neither loving nor voluntary, but rather about coercion, subjugation, dehumanization and control.O'Brien hasn't backed off the slavery comparison. Far from it. During an appearance on BBC 4's Today programme he said - "It is a perfectly good example as to what could happen in our own country if we go this way... It's time to call a halt now to what you may call progress in society."Listen to an audio recording of his remarks on BBC - here.The Cardinal is also on thin ice when he suggests the Catholic Church needs to protect children against gay and lesbian parenting - a position re-enforced by the Pope's argument with UK equality legislation. Based on the recent track record, the Church in the role of protector of children might strike people as a little ironic. Hundreds of thousands of children were abused in Catholic institutions. The full extent of the abuse will never be known because of the orchestrated cover-up.O'Brien's comments reflect a judgmental attitude that does little to promote understanding and mutual-respect. Didn't the Jesus of the New Testament repeatedly warn against judging others, puffed-up righteousness and moral hypocrisy?More on the story - Huffington Post - New Statesman

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