With the same-sex marriage bill finally being passed, Label Culture takes a look at just two of the many opinions that surround this topic. Join in the debate by commenting below the article.
“Christianity isn’t right when it denies marriage to homosexuals. I think it is perfectly reasonable for gay couples to marry in whatever religion they choose. The problem is that the government has influenced the church when it shouldn’t have.
This country informally recognises the idea of ‘separation of church and state’. That means that, in exchange for religion not pressuring law-making, the government won’t influence religion. While the Queen is technically both the head of state and the head of the Church of England, there is little conflict due to her lack of actual power within the government. The government, by making this law, has breached this contract by obligating ministers of various religions within the UK to officiate same-sex marriages, and there’s a worry that later bills could fracture this further. What if the next religious bill that’s passed is not as well written, and infringes rights even more? Considering the amount of terrorism that is associated with religious oppression, the government’s choice opens up a very dangerous path.
The bill is very well written: it asks religions to ‘opt in’ to homosexual marriages and allows ministers to ‘opt out’ if they do not wish to perform them. But pressure from equal rights groups will now build on religious ministers to condone these types of marriage, which defies the point. What we need in this county is not more laws forcing people to change, but actual social acceptance of homosexuality through education, which is not something that should be forced.”
“Roger Gale, the veteran Tory MP for Thanet North, accused the prime minister of an ‘Orwellian’ attempt to redefine marriage. There are many reasons why we may consider Gale’s remarks ‘correct’, the church should expect the freedom to be allowed to dictate its own customs as members of a democratic state; however, we could argue that it should be in the best interests of the church to modernize, in order to adapt to their surroundings.
Homosexuality, much to the disappointment of the church, is a part of twenty first century life, and as a secular state, we should do all that we can to remove any prejudices that still exist. They are at the end of the day, grossly outdated; Leviticus 18:22 informs us that ‘if a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them’. We must remember that when a belief is written in such extreme rhetoric as this, it is easy to comprehend why homosexual equality is such a big issue for the Christian faith.
Indoctrination in a religion’s homophobic attitudes has become an issue of state, and therefore the state must participate in religious affairs in order to fully relieve the stigma that is attached to homosexuality and create equality. Gale is not wrong, this interruption of religious affairs is in many ways incorrect, but it is a necessary evil needed in order to create a sexually equal and fair society.”
“As a Christian and a gay guy, I’ve probably given this topic more thought than most. For me, getting married in a church was never a big deal. What is more important to me is the knowledge that if I do get married, or civilly partnered, it will be recognized everywhere no matter where in the world I go. Being gay was never a choice I had to make, it’s just who I am, and so it seems a logical step towards equality for everyone to allow every walk to life to enjoy the same benefits of a marriage.”
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