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Lukashenka condemns same-sex marriages as sign of West's crisis

 

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has condemned same-sex marriages as a "tragic sign of a general spiritual crisis and the Western world's blindness."

Mr. Lukashenka touched on the subject in his speech delivered at a gathering held in Minsk on July 1 on the occasion of coming Independence Day.

The Belarusian leader said that the West was abandoning its traditional and basic values and destroying the institution of family by legalizing same-sex marriages, according to the government's news agency BelTA.

"The society of consumption drives man into the vicious circle of the incessant pursuit of rapidly changing new products and technology novelties, completely depriving his life of calm and peace of mind," he said.

Mr. Lukashenka claimed that many European youths took up radical teachings to escape the "world of consumerism." He also mentioned the Internet, saying that the involvement of hundreds of millions of people "in a common information network" was among factors "killing the diversity of the human civilization."

He emphasized the importance for Belarus to keep its traditions and values and cultural identity.

"All of us must understand that independence is, among other things, the right to defend one's own moral values, the right to live honestly in accordance with laws of nature and human morals," he said. // BelaPAN