How can one not regret the coarseness of the rhetorical blast that just came from the lips of Archbishop Angelo Amato? He directly equated suicide bombing with civil unions or civil marriage for gay couples. Yes: the human desire to seek out one other person and commit to him or her for a lifetime is "terrorism with a human face" and "equally repugnant" as the acts of al Qaeda. The comparison is such a ludicrously cruel, absurd and demeaning one it doesn't even rise to the level of rational debate. But here is an authoritative church leader calling gay couples the moral equivalent of mass-murderers of innocents. All one can say is that this is not the language of Jesus, and it is not the language of the Gospels. It is, in fact, hate speech. It will persuade no one. Even if one were to believe that abortion is as morally repugnant as murder, how can the same rubric be applied to gay couples who are intending to do nothing but look after one another under the law? How can attempts to find meaningful civil protections for their relationships be regarded as "evil"? Misguided for some, perhaps. Unwise for others. But evil? "Equally repugnant" as the acts of suicide bombers? From a bishop of the church? The mind reels.