Vatican writes 'glossary' on sex terminology
Let me get this one straight; a bunch of old white men who are (theoretically, at least) celibate have written a glossary on sexual and family issues? Surely I'm not the only one here who recognizes the comic potential in this??
The Holy See will soon publish a new glossary of 90 words related to sexual and family issues, according to Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, director of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
The "Lexicon of the Family and Life" will also clarify the Catholic Church's teachings on birth control, sex education, assisted procreation and homosexuality. The work intends to clarify "neologisms, ambiguous terms and difficult concepts in frequent use."
Those terms include "voluntary interruption of pregnancy," "reproductive health," "matrimonial indissolubility," "sexual education" and "conjugal love." When bandied about in a global forum, they can cause "grave moral confusion," the lexicon states.
The work has a waiting audience.
"It's long overdue, but it's a welcome initiative to clarify the political hijacking of the language," said William Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
"The Orwellian use of language by the left for their own agendas has been going on for decades," he added.
Certain "elastic" terms are used in print and broadcast for better or worse, Mr. Donohue said, specifically citing the terms "gender" and "reproductive rights." They are simply code for feminist or homosexual issues and abortion, respectively, he said.
"They're sanitized, they become generic and therefore not offensive," Mr. Donohue said.
Leave it to the Catholic Church to politicize sexual and family issues. Once again, this effort by the Church has nothing to do with clarifying these issues for Catholics. In the end, it's about control, about ensuring that Catholics toe the ideological and dogmatic line regardless of the realities involved.
It would be nice to see the Church introduce an initiative without a political agenda behind it. Of course, that WOULD make it tough to control the masses, wouldn't it?
