mille e piu LIKE

As I wrote I realised there were four reasons – Insomnia is interfering with my thought processes.

Firstly, I was one of those undecided voters at the early stages of the campaign. I am a married practising Catholic but I was feeling that not legislating for divorce was like trying to stem the tide. However, on the other hand, I could not take Christ’s teachings out of my head because, I reason, if Christ declared himself to be against divorce, it clearly shows that divorce does not benefit society. On the other hand, I used to feel that we cannot keep on burying our heads in the sand.

So, for the first time ever, I was being presented with the opportunity to vote without knowing how to vote.

However, I have to say that as the campaign progressed, I felt – and I still do – that I simply cannot vote “yes” not because of what Christ says but because of two main reasons:

1. I cannot stand the “yes” campaigners. I cannot stand Pullicino Orlando, Evarist Bartolo and Deborah Schembri. The three of them seem to have a particularly strong interest for the introduction of divorce which goes beyond mere altruism. Hence, as you rightly said, when somebody has a vested interest in something he’s campaigning for, he loses credibility.

2. Their bickering, their behaving like kids is putting me off completely. I really cannot stand them.

3. I cannot bear the thought – and would not be able to live with myself – if Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando carried the day and won the vote. He would treat this as a feather in his cap and I strongly believe it would undermine Gonzi’s authority. And I’m a Nationalist who cannot for the life of me see Gonzi’s authority undermined.

4. Frankly, I’m seeing that the divorce debate is becoming a springboard for all those who, for reasons best known to them, want to attack the Church, vent frustration at the Church, attack and insult practising Catholics – suffice it to say that somebody on Facebook described Christ as “the Jewish zombie”. I was offended both as a Catholic but also as a Maltese who has a right to worship whoever she likes in a supposedly democratic country. Frankly, I am feeling that whoever has some sort of faith has the duty to bear derision by non-believers who feel they have the supreme right to deride believers.

I might be irresponsible in my vote but on a national scale, I perceive the consequences of the “yes” vote winning the day much more serious (and not in terms of marriage breakdown) than the “no” vote winning the day.

Hence, I am voting “no”.

Le mhux semplici; qisha separata? Divorzjat/a mhux qisha separat/a!
U ma noqghodux nilghabu bil-kliem biex niggustifikaw id-divorzju. L-abjad nghidulu abjad u l-iswed nghidulu iswed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTqeOCC6r1Y

@ Fenech M

Le ma jkunx, ghax f’ghajnejn il-knisja, id-divorzju ma sehhx u il-koppja (divorzjata quddiem l-istat) ghadhom mizzewga. Il-parti li ma taqbilx mad-divorzju, ghaliha tkun qisha separata. Semplici le?

These costs are due to increased taxpayer expenditures for antipoverty, criminal justice
and school nutrition programs, and through lower levels of taxes paid by individuals
whose adult productivity has been negatively influenced by growing up in
poverty caused by family fragmentation.

This figure represents a minimum or “lower-bound” estimate.

Quote 1: High rates of family fragmentation impose extraordinary
costs on taxpayers

Quote 2 : even very small increases in stable marriage rates would result in very large
returns to taxpayers

Source: The Taxpayer Costs of
Divorce and Unwed Childbearing