‘DEEPLY UNWISE’: CHURCH OF ENGLAND FORMALLY OBJECTS TO GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSAL TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE LONDON (AP)
By: Billy Hallowell - The Blaze – June 12, 2012
LONDON (AP) — The Church of England andRoman 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.
“The uniqueness of the institution of marriage is based on the fact that the human person exists as both male and female and that their union for the purpose of procreation, mutual support and love has, over the centuries of human history, formed a stable unit which we call the family,” the Catholic bishops argued.
With attendance continuing to fall, the Church of England’s influence has waned. Perhaps mindful of that, much of the Church of England’s criticism of gay marriage focused on legal issues rather than quoting scripture. The response from the church‘s bishops and the Archbishops’ Council argued that gay couples already have many of the legal benefits of marriage through civil partnerships and worried that churches could ultimately be required to perform same-sex marriages.
