It is indeed regrettable that some speakers of the pro-divorce lobby and even sections of the media are resorting to bullying tactics to try and silence the voice of those who stand in defence of marriage as we see it today, including the Church.

There are those who seem to have forgotten the true meaning of pluralism when this voice is not convenient to the outcome they desire in the upcoming referendum. Regrettably even those who have a responsibility to ensure that there is a fair representation of the various opinions within a true pluralistic society have fallen to this temptation.

Marlene Mizzi decided that pro-marriage proponents cannot use the notion of common good as this makes us Nazis. How utterly disgraceful.

Individuals who decided to take leave from their duty as public servants to dedicate time to the pro-marriage campaign have been nothing less than harassed and a wrong doing has been implied on them when it is simply not there. This is simply not on. I stand with those who feel duty bound to publicly thank them for the decision they have taken.

Now we have those who were scandalised to hear, during the Our Lady of Sorrows procession, the gospel message in favour of the stability of marriage and the harmful consequences of divorce, with intercessory prayers being made to Our Lady to the effect. I am amazed. Why did these people go to the procession in the first place? When will we become Christians of faith and conviction rather than just ritual? How sorrowful. These people thought that going to a procession on the occasion of Our Lady of Sorrows will buy them some sort of ticket to heaven, but were shocked to realise that following Our Lady is about following her Son’s teachings and not doing our own way, like in the issue of divorce. Well, if they were shocked to find out that God has a say in such matters, then they’d better wake up from their spiritual alienation.

I think the occasion was actually very befitting of such a message; I am sure Our Lady is very sorrowful that Malta is considering divorce. Very few words in the Gospel are attributed directly to Our Lady; ironically it was during the wedding of Cana that she simply commanded us “to do what He (Jesus) says”, and Jesus was very categorical against divorce.

The Church should be left free to promote its messages in favour of the stability and permanence of marriage and nobody should expect anything differently. Faith can never be alienated from this important debate. It may be in the interest of the pro-divorce lobby to make this debate devoid of religious sentiment, but what they fail to appreciate is that the vast majority of Maltese still care about their faith and God’s teachings.

God has a say in the morals of this world, of our country, of our families, as individuals and when we break God’s order of things, we bring disorder and pain upon ourselves.

The secular world wants to put God in a closet, while it keeps doing its own things. This is what the pro-divorce movement wants us to do: Determine our votes not on moral convictions but supposedly to give a right to those who do not share our convictions while damning those whose opinion differs from theirs especially if it comes from the Church. That’s anything but pluralism.

Unfortunately they fail to appreciate that what God has dictated is for the good of all of us, believers or not. Divorce does not give an individual another chance at a restart, it simply breaks the permanence of all marriages and gives no permanence to the supposedly new marriages it seeks to allow.

Life is beautiful. God has given us a manual to make the best use of our life, the Bible. We may choose to abide by it or choose to do our own way. If, like when in the case of a car, we go against the manual’s directions and rather than petrol, we add diesel, at some point the car will break down. You’re still free to add diesel instead of petrol, however the damage would have been made. Same with life, God will not stop you from doing your own way, but there are consequences that are harmful to ourselves, to those we love and to the society we live in.

Tonio Fenech is Finance Minister