Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The family "is the basis of society. And not only religions state this, not only the Church, but social scientists too. So I do not understand why anyone would launch a site that offers extra-marital encounters. If the purpose is to make money, you can do in other ways. Without trying to moralize, we just want to understand what is behind this and prevent a mess". The speaker is Fr. Lawrence Lee, chancellor of the Diocese of Hong Kong, commenting to AsiaNews on the launch of a new website in the Chinese market.
The site under scrutiny is the "Ashley Madison" website already active in more than 30 Western nations. After paying registration, it puts married people who are interested in cheating on their spouse in touch with each other. The Asian launch already took place in Japan, where it has a million members. Now the founder, Noel Biderman, is aiming at the Chinese market and has chosen Hong Kong to start up.
Fr. Lee is very clear: "This is not only a religious issue, we do not want to lecture. But last year we registered over 20 thousand divorces. Certainly the causes are many: very stressful jobs, the lack of communication between partners , family violence. But at the top is betrayal and infidelity. We want to remind everyone that the marriage and family life are essential to build and maintain a stable society, in Hong Kong we need positive examples in this area, certainly not incentives to cheat. "
The priest also criticized the 'reasons' put forward by the founder of the site, who said he wanted to "put in touch only those who are already predisposed to adultery." According to Fr. Lee "this is nonsense. Many people unfortunately do drugs: According to this principle, should we make drugs more accessible and easier to buy? I think not. Instead our young people should be helped and nurtured in their emotional education and understanding of the importance of marriage. "
