Does Anyone Really Care If Danny And Dave Or Felicity And Fiona Tie The Knot In Church?
Duncan Barkes makes the case for gay marriage in Church.
20 Oct 2011, 09:30
Time to allow gay marriage in Church
During his speech at the recent Conservative Party conference the Prime Minister said he was in favour of gay marriage. As the cameras panned around the Manchester venue there were some bulldog-chewing-a-wasp expressions and folded arms; clearly the idea did not sit well with some of the party faithful.
I am not the Coalition government’s biggest fan. However, I think this is something that they have got right and I applaud their decision to launch an official consultation on the subject next year.
Under the proposed reforms faith centres such as churches and synagogues will be able to host same-sex civil partnership registration ceremonies. They will also be allowed to use religious music.
But, unsurprisingly, certain religious representatives are not happy. The Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton has said that the Prime Minister would not be given “an easy ride on this”. He went on to say: “I think the church will have to do something. We cannot just let this slide by and say we are not interested.”
Further up the religious hierarchy the Archbishop of Southwark, one of the most senior Roman Catholics in the UK, is adamant that “marriage by its very nature is between a man and a woman and it is the essential foundation of family life.”
But religious leaders aside, what is the majority view of this controversial proposition? I’m not sure if people care about it at all.
To me it is perfectly simple: If two men or women want to marry in church with a few hymns, let them get on it with it. It might not sit well with your viewpoint, but it doesn’t affect you personally, so what’s the gripe?
Homosexuality has been legal for over forty years now, although some of the comments I have read in opposition of gay marriage makes me wonder if we’re not actually still living in the Dark Ages.
There is enough hatred and intolerance in the world, much of it in the name of religion. Weddings, be they in church, in a pub or on a beach, are rooted in love and faith. Surely this is cause for celebration, irrespective of the sexuality of the happy couple?
Comments (4)
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Personally I don't care how anyone gets married or who they get married to, as you say it's between the bride and groom or whatever combination of the two.
The fact is that marriage is a legal contract between two people, and that should be the beginning and the end of the states involvement in it.
If those two people then want to go and have a ceremony to publicly demonstrate the commitment they make to each other then I don't see what it has to do with the law where they have it, who holds it, whether its religious or not and if they call it a marriage or a civil partnership.
Equally the state shouldn't "force" religious or other organisations to hold marriage ceremonies that are contrary to the beliefs of their congregations or members.
20/10/2011 11:12Whilst I generally support the state removing restriction on what a religious organisation can do (in this case allowing them to follow their conscience on this issue), it would be worrying if it turned into an issue of rights and religious groups are forced to conduct gay marriages. It isn't a short step from allowing this to someone taking a church or synagogue to court for not doing it.
Perhaps better still would be to remove the state from marriage altogether. Have the state run civil partnerships of whatever hue, with the protections and rights this offers, and people can choose to have a religious ceremony separate from that.
20/10/2011 11:17If religious organisations are permitted to register same sex marriages would the regulations prohibiting discrimination in the supply of goods and services come into play?
Would it become illegal to offer to register diverse sex religious marriages, but not same sex religious marriages in the same way that it is illegal to offer premises for registering civil marriages, but not civil partnerships?
20/10/2011 11:25I could not care less who gets married where.
But to force a Church to allow ceremonies where some members may object strongly smacks of totalitarianism.
Start going down that avenues and you'll be telling mosques they should allow women in...
The Church and State should be separate. The Church should obey the Laws of the land. Apart from that, they can and should do what they believe in.
"To me it is perfectly simple: If two men or women want to marry in church with a few hymns, let them get on it with it. It might not sit well with your viewpoint, but it doesn’t affect you personally, so what’s the gripe?
Typical myopic view. The Church members have rights as well and if they don't like it, they should not have it forced on them.
Diplomacy wins more friends than militant exercising of "rights".
21/10/2011 14:59