Originally Posted by
Belisarius
The problem is not really that Maltese are "Backwards" more that there are elements of our society and various political factions manipulating the issue.
I campaigned for the YES vote for months, and already our debates and discussions have been overshadowed by nuns entering elderly homes stating " Do YOU want a divorce now"
Here is an article I wrote on the issue published on the Yes FB pages:
On the 25th of May I decided to be a little pro-active and attend the divorce debate that was held in Marsaskala. Admittedly in my time as a university student I have not been the most vocal and active student on campus. However as a student and a Maltese citizen I feel that this issue goes beyond political parties and religious affiliations. This is not an issue of personal preference, nor is this a statement of devotion to Christ. No, this is bigger than that; this is about defending the fundamental freedom we all have to choose our own destiny. This is about freedom of choice, not necessarily for us, we may not believe in divorce, but it must be a choice for those whose lives are in tatters after failed marriages.
The question I was waiting to ask the “Le” panel was a simple one. The No, “ghall gejjieni” panel spent the best part of an hour discussing how a proposition as large as the introduction of divorce should be debated further. They stressed the need for parliament and the public to research and fully understand the issue of families and divorce before implementing any law on the populace. It must be noted that while doing this they offered no alternatives, nor have they, ever. Anyway, my question to them would be simple.
Why are you intentionally causing people to forget the real issue?
We all know that on Saturday we will walk into the voting area and be left alone with just a pen, a paper and our own thoughts. We will then make a simple choice between two options. At that moment our real choice will be made, a choice that will actively affect the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of individuals. Thing is, it’s very easy to forget that. I personally reflected on this point and realized that one could make a historical comparison to show exactly what the “Le” camp is doing by making us essentially dehumanize and depersonalize this issue.
Seventy or so years ago it was very easy for a man, sitting in a dimly lit office, at an expensive oak desk, silver tipped pen in hand - to sign papers diligently handed to him by his assistant. Papers with were merely lists of names on which the individual needed only scribble some ink on a line. Did he even bother to read the papers? The choices whether or not to sign was intentionally clouded by political rhetoric, divine purpose and a sense of destiny. It was very easy in that instance to sign away lists of names and have a Currier ferry them away. The person at the desk was not the one who had to cart the names listed on those papers into trains to be transported out of existence. Sitting alone, pen in hand, it was very easy to make the choice to sign when people’s lives were regarded as nothing more then names and numbers.
Now before people get all riled up I must make it clear that I am not comparing anyone to the Nazis, while that was the tactic of the “Ghall Gejjieni” supporter on the 25th of May who attacked Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, it is not mine. I am merely trying to emphasize how political rhetoric and campaigning can depersonalise a choice which is in itself deeply personal.
As voters it is easy to fill our heads with the slogans “Kristu IVA, Divorzju Le” and make it a simple choice of No. I ask you, as individuals in that room, alone with nothing but your own thoughts; will you forget the real issue?
Will you forget about the wife, whose husband comes home drunk and rapes her? Do you think it is possibly for a couple to repair their relationship when one person has violated the other in such a manner?
Will you forget about the man whose wife has left him for another and is thus left alone? Do you think that they can compromise a way out of the simple fact that she loves another man? How do you think the man feels about himself?
Will you forget about the woman who is in a marriage where compromise arises when her husband beats her into submission?
Will you forget about the child brought up in a family of convenience where screaming and mutual infidelity is rampant? What do you think his perception of family will be?
The no campaign has forgotten these people because while consistently saying that the current law is inadequate, they offer no alternative to those thousands who are suffering. They would have you make this a choice between faith and damnation! They would have you think that divorce will make your wife leave you! They will make you think of values! So, again I ask them, what about the real issue?
The phrase commonly used by the no camp is that, “divorce is not a civil right”! I would argue that while it might not be a civil right, it is our God given right to a second chance, it is our God given right to a choice and it is our God given right to live out our lives full of love and happiness.
We are the descendents of brave men and women who through centuries of occupation by various foreign powers still managed to form a national identity. We defeated the Turkish hordes, we rebelled against the French, we stood defiant against fascist tyranny, and we claimed our independence! Are we really afraid of Divorce? Can you possibly vote no because you think your wife or husband might leave you? Can the people who cared for St Paul seriously turn their backs on those citizens who are living in misery? If so, can you do it with a clear conscience?
James Dalli
Malta's Divorce Referendum, 29/05/2011
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