This is yesterday's post really.
Sunday is a good day for posts relating to religion and spirituality. Its also a good day for having a day off sometimes, so here is a Sunday post a day late.
The main religious story of the week was of course the Northern Ireland B & B proprietor run by a member of the D.U.P. (Defend Ulster from Poufs) party. If you did not catch the story, a storm in a teacup has blown up over a lesbian couple being turned away from the B & B because the owner is a "Christian" and did not want that kin of thing going on in the house. (sorry, we're in Northern Ireland, I mean "hoyse." i.e. Oy do nort warnt thot koynd of thing goying orn in the hoyse.")
My first reaction on hearing tyhe news item on radio was "oh well, that's fair enough, people have a right to decide who they will or will not allow into their home." But it goes a bit deeper than that.
There seems to be a double standard in operation among the Paisley pattern duvet covers. What are a gay or lesbian couple likely to get up to that a mixed gender couple could not be doing?
Now my understanding of this area may be a little vague so let's work though it.
Say a man and woman turn up and ask for a room or roym. Now the proprietor can ask are you married?
And the couple can truthfully say "yes we are," without actually mentioning that its no to each other. On the scale of Biblical abominations I think adultery scores just as highly as homosexuality, probably higher.
And then what could this married but not to each other couple get up to that might offend against Presbyterian principles? A bit of crack smoking, anal sex, erotic asphyxiation, S&M.
The next question must be is it fair to assume that if a same sex couple take a room "that sort of thing" is going on hammer and tongs for the duration of the stay? What if they just like to sit in hotel rooms and read Agatha Christie novels. And what is a same sex couple? What if two guys working on a contract want a twin room to keep expenses down?
I would not like to stay in a hotel where the owner takes a prurient interest in what is happening in my room, even if I was alone.
Is it smart for someone with such a rigid (oops, pardon!) attitude to open a B&B. People get up to all sorts in hotels in fact the classier the hotel the weirder the clientele. Staff are trained to be blind deaf and dumb where guests antics are concerned.
Perhaps if the proprietor involved in the incident indicated it was a Christian B&B it might be enough of a hint. But to advertise "no same sex couples" would be acceptable, as bad in fact as advertising (as B&Bs in London still did in the early sixties when I first went there alone) "No Blacks or Irish."
Mixing business with pleasure is dangerous, mixing business with moral prejudice is a minefield.