Natural rights and legal rights

The discussion on the rights of same-sex couples is a crucial point in society's development. Here we gauge its priorities, its values and its potential. Here we grade virtues such as acceptance, respect for one another and love. Here the reality of the human condition slugs it out with "tradition," the matrix of laws and attitudes which demand conformity, which are revolted by change.

"[E]very man became a judge of religion, and an interpreter of the Scripture to himself." If you thought these were the ironic words of a scholar of religion and/or philosophy in the contemporary era of social media and proliferating political narratives, think again.

Times like these test leaders. In a world full of fear and noise, a small group is called upon to take decisions that will determine the fate of their people. No one was elected on the basis of their program for dealing with a pandemic but their legacy will depend on how they handled this threat to all of us. Their decisions will either alleviate the damage or compound it.