Tony Abbott currently flies the flag for Catholicism in politics, but is this a win for truth?
Every politician is disliked by a particular demographic. Tony Abbott is no different.
Certainly there are many who dislike Abbott because of his conservative stance on numerous issues, but the demographic that seems irked the most by the Prime Minister are linked by gender.
Abbott and the ‘housewives of Australia’
Women – indeed not all women, but those of a more feminist persuasion – detest Abbott, and regardless of how he represents himself or his views, he cannot appease them. Nor does he want to.
The most recent evidence of this love/hate relationship is surely the furore that erupted over the comments Abbott made in an interview with Helen McCabe for the Australian Women’s Weekly and the following ‘housewives of Australia’ comment he made soon after the publication of this article.
Leaving the latter aside, I’m not prepared to open that can of worms in this article, what exactly was it that Tony Abbott said in this interview that polarized women so extensively, and so rapidly?
Simply this; when asked about sex before marriage Tony answered: “I think I would say to my daughters if they were to ask me this question…It is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don’t give it to someone lightly, that is what I would say.”
You would be forgiven for not seeing what the problem is with this statement. In fact, as a woman myself I cannot see what Tony Abbott had to say that was so offensive to women of my gender.
Yet former editor in chief of Dolly, Cosmopolitan and Cleo, Mia Freedman is just one of the myriad of influential women who took offence to this statement. She had this to say: “When the brou-ha-ha erupted over his virginity comments, I looked into it carefully before deciding not to go there. Sure, I could have had a free kick at any man who tried to tell young women to treat their virginity as a precious gift but when I read the interview and his comments in context, I could see he was answering a specific question about his own daughters and speaking as a father rather than as a politician.” (Mia Freedman www.mamamia.com.au 18/02/2010)
Despite her honesty one can’t help feeling that Ms Freedman is yet another young women who doesn’t value her own sexuality and dignity. To feel it necessary to react against any man who urged women to treat their virginity as a gift is a sad state indeed.
But therein lies the real issue behind the offence taken by so many women. They felt as though Tony Abbott, a man, and what’s more a Catholic, was instructing them on how they should go about their lives.
Though Abbott may have answered the question as a father, there is still truth in his statement. Both men and women should consider their sexuality as a gift and revere sexual intercourse as being the ultimate act of giving, one that should be reserved for marriage.
Abbott and his faith
Abbott’s answer regarding virginity was not so Catholic as we might have hoped however. Perhaps, in view of his own pre marital relationship he felt unable to argue for abstinence before marriage without coming across as a hypocrite. In this we will give him the benefit of the doubt.
On other issues however, there is no doubt Abbott does not fully support the Catholic Church’s teachings. He sees contraception as being a suitable precaution and views IVF as being a good thing.
He admits the difference in relationships between homosexual and heterosexual couples in regards to openness to life and the nature of their relationship and so does not support gay marriage. He does however concede an openness to commitment ceremonies.
There are two issues so far in federal politics where Abbott has defended the teachings of the Church; abortion and embryonic stem cell research. As health minister in the Howard Government, Abbott had decided not to allow the abortion drug RU486 to be made available in Australia. In 2006 there was a conscience vote and this denied the health minster having any regulatory control of the abortion drug.
He also opposed embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning in another conscience vote, arguing instead for the use of adult stem cells and argued that ‘the very best end does not justify every possible means’(Chris Evans, “Abbott opposes call to relax cloning laws”, Sydney Morning Herald 29/09/2005).
Church and state
Abbott has more than once copped flack for his conservative views. Most famously through the ‘keep your Rosaries off our ovaries’ stage of his abortion stance. The ‘mad monk’ is the public face of Catholics in Australian politics in a time when many argue that Church and state have no business together.
Being Catholic today may be a hard pill to swallow, and the sway of secular society is ever increasing. As responsible Catholics then, it is our duty to give our prayerful support to all politicians who stand up for morality and ethics so that on all issues, they might bear witness to the truth.
So pray for Tony Abbott, and when push comes to shove, he’ll have the courage to continue to face down the anti-Catholic tide that inhabits politics and government.
Originally posted 2014-01-28 02:13:45.