Daily Advertiser letters to the editor, August 26

My recent attendance there was a very positive experience with the triage and emergency staff offering prompt, professional and friendly service. They attended to my ailment efficiently and provided much-needed relief.  

Thank you for your assistance and for working so hard to maximize the outcomes for patients under what must be very difficult circumstances.

I REFER to an article published in The Daily Advertiser on August 4 pertaining to the reproach by a local woman to the sexual assault that she allegedly endured as a child from a Catholic priest.

The report affirms that this abuse victim fastened police taping with the instruction CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS across the entrance of the church where the offending pastor apparently ministered.

I wish to ascertain how a private citizen has acquired official police tape to avenge the church’s misconduct.  Should the report be authentic, the victim’s response is irrational given that the priest died in 1969. What was apparently a crime scene in the 1960s cannot justly be asserted as such today, given that the present clergy would not engage in this appalling behaviour.

I affirm wholeheartedly that - as a former Catholic school student and now relief teacher - I am 100 per cent committed to child protection, denouncing any form of child mistreatment in conjunction with the abuse of power and betrayal of trust which this crime uncovers. I remain completely objective and acknowledge that this discussion entails a sensitive approach.

THE homosexual marriage campaign is dishonest. A month ago, I wrote to the editor stating reasons against homosexual marriage.

Since then there have not been any letters refuting that argument, although many contrary letters from far and wide were published.

According to homosexuals, marriage is about love. The presence of love makes for a good marriage but is not essential and certainly not an aspect of the law which they seek to change. There is no reference to love in the Marriage Act.

Going back a long way and at the highest levels of society, most marriages were arranged by parents. Religious forms of marriage are not actually sufficient to be legal even now.  

Their other argument is they are being denied equality with heterosexuals. The present legislation does not discriminate against homosexuals. Any homosexual can marry a person of the opposite sex, just like people who are not homosexual. Marriage is where if two people are married then any children are considered legitimate. Children born outside a marriage are not.

The only combination that can produce children is a male and a female. There is no mention of homosexuals because they can’t have children.

But there is no mention of heterosexuals either, so again equality.

The Marriage Act is about preventing marriage between people whose children could have birth defects. It refers to brothers, sisters and cousins. It also sets minimum age limits.

What the homosexuals and supporters are seeking is to change the law so homosexual couples can get married.

When they can bear children that should not be a problem. Existing medical knowledge has not yet made this possible. I could write an entirely different letter as to why homosexuality exists.