"Thank heavens. News from New York looks set to demolish those last pockets of resistance to the theory of intelligent design.
Ever since the March of the Penguins documentary premiered in the US, weirdo evolutionists have resisted the Christian right's claim that the struggle of the penguins to nurture their young is a parable for monagamous life under God. Sure, penguins are devoted parents, they concede, but what isn't mentioned is that they stay with each mate only for one breeding cycle (kind of like Ulrika Jonsson).
Well, I'd like to see them interpret the following as anything other than a wondrous sign from God: Roy and Silo, the famous gay penguins at Central Park Zoo, have split up. No word on whether they underwent one of those appealing courses to "cure" homosexuality, but Silo now has a girlfriend called Scrappy. Admittedly, according to the Chicago Tribune, Roy is now hanging around "a few sexually immature penguins" ... "
No sign of compassion for the penguins' families here. Penguins have privacy rights too, and if they wish to stay in the closet (or perhaps the refrigerator?), then it should not be for The Guardian to poke fun.
On the other hand, The Independent tries to take a more grown-up line (spoilsport?):
"Some of those involved with the film are trying to take the heat out of the argument. Laura Kim, a vice-president of Warner Independent Pictures, its American distributor, summed up what not a few thought by saying: "You know what? They're just birds."
You can see her point. If we take our anthropomorphism too far and start seeing moral messages in animal behaviour, we're likely to end up disappointed. Some penguins are monogamous child-rearers; and others are gay. But neither one set nor the other is obeying any moral code that may exist in our minds.
They're not really amusing, waddling, dinky versions of us at all. They're Antarctic seabirds doing what comes naturally."
No comments:
Post a Comment