The Church of England and Roman Catholic bishops of England and Wales formally objected Tuesday to the government’s proposal to permit gay marriages, both asserting that their historic understanding is that marriage is the union of a woman and a man.
Prime Minister David Cameron is backing a proposal to permit civil marriages for gay couples, despite the strong opposition of some lawmakers in his Conservative Party. Gay couples are already allowed to have civil partnerships, with the first such ceremony in 2005.
The churches‘ responses were released on the day when the traditional marriage group Coalition for Marriage prepared to deliver a petition with more than half a million signatures opposing the change to Cameron’s office. Thursday is the deadline for public comment, which the government will consider in drafting legislation.
12 Comments
Cameron and his fellow conspirators knew the clergy would be declaring opposition to their designs before they made their intentions known to the public. What Cameron did not expect was a petition in opposition to with over 500,000 valid signatures.
We'll soon see whether there are any Catholic bishops left in England.
For a conservative to be backing same sex marriage is simply wrong. As far as Catholic Bishops are concerned there will be Catholic Bishops in England until the day the Lord returns.
@Jeff
Remember, this is England. The conservative party there is very left-wing.
Yay
Shame, since British people aren't daft enough to listen to them. Thankfully, we moved on from the whole "religion" thing a while back...
Randy, have you checked the 500,000?
At least some are from children under 16 who received Catholic propaganda in contradiction of Dept of Education rules regarding political campaigning in schools.
Paul,
My proof is available on the net; were is yours?
The UK is a nightmare society, a Fascism-With-A-Human-Face imposition of anti-Christian values at the implicit point of a gun.
I am afraid our fellows may have waited too long in the Nightmare UK; been too eager to compromise, placed too much faith in some quaint notion that typical political compromise would win out in the end.
Let's not repeat that mistake here.
Denmark moved from civil unions, to same sex marriage, to requiring the Danish Lutheran Church to devise a rite for same sex marriage that the church must perform on demand. We will see if the land of martyred Thomas Beckett will defend the rights and privileges of the Anglican Church in resisting a similar trajectory.
We can see in comment nr. 7 the attempt of the Department of Education to suppress Catholic teaching. One can almost hear in the Number 10 Downing Street and in Department of Education someone saying after the fashion of Henry II: "Will no one rid me of these turbulent priests?”
"Shame, since British people aren't daft enough to listen to them. Thankfully, we moved on from the whole "religion" thing a while back..."
Yes, you certainly have moved on... and the rest of the world had a glimpse of Britain's wonderful unchurched youth during the riots last summer.
@AM...
Yes, because the "churched" youth of the United States are so much better, what with the spread of gang culture, your higher teenage pregnancy rates and Higher rates of teenage drug use.