Same-sex marriage advocates consistently cite studies purporting to show that children do just as well when raised by gay or lesbian couples as when raised by their mothers and fathers. They accuse those on the pro-traditional marriage side of the debate of selectively quoting evidence in favour of traditional marriage.

Today's story about a Christian couple who have been prevented from adopting by a local council in the UK because of their refusal to sign up to gay equality guidelines is yet another step in the direction of the soft persecution of people of faith. Another ground on which the couple were refused permission to adopt was the fact that they insisted they would bring the children to Church.

As an addendum to Tom’s blog entry below, the following needs to be added. The European Commission is also targeting family law with its interpretation of the Equality Directive. Family law is not supposed to be a competence (or power) of the EU, but the Trojan Horse it is using to interfere in family law is its power in the area of anti-discrimination and equality.

The news that the European Commission is preparing to take Ireland to court over its employment equality legislation, specifically with regard to the exemptions Irish law makes for religious organisations, is very worrying.

Whatever we may think of the comments by Archbishop Rowan Williams on Sharia and English law, the reaction to it has been completely over-the-top and has been the occasion for some generalised screeds against religion.

A Swedish review of 20 years of research showing that fathers are crucial for their children's development simply adds to the mountain of research which shows that both parents play a vital role in raising children. What's notable is that the review is from Sweden, a country noted for its social liberalism, and where such conclusions would not be published unless they were unavoidable.

Here is a thought experiment. Let’s suppose that same-sex couples in Ireland one day win the ‘right’ to marry. If and when this happens, what name do we then give heterosexual marriage? That may seem a silly question, but it isn’t, because a marriage between two homosexuals would be different from a marriage between two heterosexuals. Why is this? Well, apart from the obvious reason that one involves two members of the same sex and the other involves a man and a woman, the one involving the same-sex couple cannot, in and of itself, lead to children, while the one between the opposite sex couple can, and usually will.

By now we all know that Bertie doesn't like “aggressive secularists”. In a number of remarks before the last election, the Taoiseach made it clear that he believed that the Churches, and people of faith generally, deserved to have their voices heard, without the need for them to relegate their beliefs to the private sphere.

Immigration legislation isn't often something that would draw the concern of the Iona Institute. But the Government's proposed Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill includes some potentially troubling features regarding marriage. It proposes outlawing marriage between Irish citizens and non-EU residents unless the Minister for Justice is notified three months in advance and approves the marriage.

The National Secular Society and the British Humanist Association have filed a complained against the Scout Association with the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Association. They are annoyed that the scouts require their members to make a promise to do their duty to God.

Last night’s talk by Elizabeth Marquardt was a great success. It was well attended and very informative. It introduced people to international developments that they never heard of and never suspected could happen, for example, that the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ have been removed from birth certs in Canada and elsewhere.

On Monday, most UK papers carried the worrying news that over half of Britons are unhappy in their marriages. The story, based on a poll conducted by Seddons, a reputable London firm of solicitors, suggested that a staggering 59 per cent of women would leave their husbands if they could be sure of remaining financially secure.

A new piece of legislation is currently before the British Parliament called the Human Tissue and Embryology Bill. One of its most controversial proposals is to eliminate the requirement that children conceived through artificial reproductive techniques should have a mother and a father who will raise them from the first day of their lives. In order words, single people and same-sex couples will be able to avail of these services if the Bill goes through unchanged.