Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Andrew Copson

GET UPDATES FROM Andrew Copson
 

If the Church Thinks Introduction of Same-Sex Civil Marriage Means Their Disestablishment...

Posted: 12/06/2012 14:31

...does that mean it's okay to go ahead in Northern Ireland and Wales where the Church isn't established anyway?

...does it mean that removal of the Bishops from the House of Lords (the last thing we were told would mean disestablishment) wouldn't actually mean disestablishment and we can go ahead with removing them?

...how long after the introduction of equal civil marriage does the Church intend to hand over its schools?

...how long after the introduction of equal civil marriage does the Church intend to remove its state-funded chaplains from prisons, hospitals and the armed forces?

...why don't they already consider themselves disestablished by virtue of the fact that most marriages already aren't conducted by them anyway but are civil marriages?

Or is this just is a devious, desperate attempt by shamelessly self-interested moral authoritarians to impose their own limited and unshared view of human relationships on everyone else by threats, scare-mongering and hyperbolic raising of the stakes to distract from the fact that this debate isn't - or shouldn't be - about them but about the civil right of two people in love to have their relationship recognised by their friends and family and the law in the country where they live?

You decide!

 

Follow Andrew Copson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/andrewcopson

FOLLOW UK POLITICS
 
 
  • Comments
  • 9
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Recency  | 
Popularity
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
07:02 PM on 06/14/2012
In related news: Today, we had the sad news that the congregation of a Glasgow church - the Tron - has decided to break from the Church of Scotland over their positive stance on gay clergy. Their minister was on the news stating that they felt the CoS was 'walking away from Jesus' because the bible teaches that to follow Jesus you must live your life not as you would wish to.

Isn't it funny how so many Christians feel obliged to follow the word of God when it comes to gays, but feel happy to ignore it so often otherwise? And before anyone claims that they are a Christian and follows the bibles rules and laws in its entirety - you lie. If you did, you'd be in jail because you'd be stoning your neighbour because they weren't observing the Sabbath. Among other crimes.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
06:56 PM on 06/14/2012
Well said. I listened to a spokesman for Catholic Voice on the news yesterday, stating that if gay marriage goes ahead it will lead to the seperation of Church and State. Well, if THAT's the only stumbling block - bring it on! It's well nigh time they weren't so cozy anyway!
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Ppenguinator
Life's too imprtant to be taken seriously.
09:58 PM on 06/13/2012
Same-sex marriage isn't a threat to the church, quite the opposite. The real threat is failure to adapt.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
honeynutcornflakes
your micro-bio is empty
05:03 PM on 06/13/2012
Ironic isn't it that Henry VIII, although a progressive who decided against what the powerful church was preventing him doing, by establishing the Church of England, generations down the line are finding it aggrevatingly difficult to get rid of the damned thing!
11:58 AM on 06/13/2012
Very good questions! I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for answers though. The church doesn't answer questions it doesn't like, especially as it's being kept pretty busy these days with trying to get to grips with scary words like 'irrelevance' and 'indifference'.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
godsamyth
11:13 AM on 06/13/2012
yes get the men in frocks out of the house of lords
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
09:32 AM on 06/13/2012
Since when has the church ever been about equal rights. The only reason the priestly class don't still oppress all of us with their so called revealed truths, is because the secular rational people of this country just wont put up with them. Good article!
Robert Dryhurst
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Nathan0316
TrueBlueTory Age quod agis
08:46 PM on 06/12/2012
Damn, if all it took to destabilise the Church was to let everybody get married if they want to, we should have done it decades ago!

Maybe then we wouldn't have had the never-ending stream of scandals over child-abuse, tax avoidance and banking we've to put up with in recent years...
06:44 PM on 06/12/2012
I would not worry, Andrew. The church seems hell bent (now there's a useful phrase) on self destruction by its persistent opposition to all forms of social and scientific progress. Humanists can maybe concentrate on helping to direct the goodwill and energy of the rank and file churchgoers who abhore the dogma and self interest preached from the pulpits.