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June 12th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda - Gay rights campaigners accuse church of ‘obsessing’ over sex instead of focusing on other issues
- Describes the church’s claims over gay marriage as a ‘masterclass of melodramatic scaremongering’
- Church of England says Government’s reforms are ‘half-baked’ and ‘not legally sound’
By
Steve Doughty
18:52 EST, 11 June 2012
|
05:54 EST, 12 June 2012
Warning: Archbishop of Canterbury
Dr Rowan Williams, pictured reading the service of thanksgiving for the Diamond Jubilee, has expressed concern at the proposal
A law to allow same-sex weddings will destroy the institution of marriage for future generations, leaders of the Church of England warned yesterday.
They claim it will lead to a constitutional crisis, arguing that human rights legislation will force churches to treat gay couples asking for a wedding in the same way they treat heterosexual couples.
The Church of England’s warning comes in response to the Government’s consultation on legalising same-sex marriage, which will close this week.
The proposed reforms, formally launched in March, have been described by Church officials as ‘half-baked’, ‘very shallow’, ‘superficial’ and ‘completely irrational’.
They claim the change will lead to the Church separating itself from civil law and leaders say this raises the prospect of ‘disestablishment’.
This would entail the cutting of ties between Church and state that have lasted for nearly 500 years, threatening a series of major consequences.
These include the end of the universal right of everyone in the country to marry in their local parish church, to the removal of the Queen from her place as Supreme Governor of the Church.
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May, saying the plans ‘have not been thought through and are not legally sound’.
Church leaders have written to Home Secretary Theresa May objecting to the proposals and dismissed claims by Prime Minister David Cameron that churches would not be forced to carry out gay marriages
They also dismissed as worthless reassurances from Prime Minister David Cameron that no church will be compelled to provide such ceremonies.
In the letter they stated: ‘Assurances that the freedom of the churches and other religious organisations would be safeguarded are of limited value given that once the law was changed the key decisions would be for domestic and European courts.’
COUPLE MAKE HISTORY
A gay couple have made history by becoming the first in the UK to celebrate a civil partnership in a religious building.
Kieran Bohan and Warren Hartley signed the register at Liverpool’s Unitarian Church on the day of their blessing.
The church received final confirmation from Liverpool council that it could register civil partnerships just a week before the couple’s big day.
The legislation to allow religious buildings to host civil ceremonies was implemented in December.
Mr Hartley, 36, an administrator, and Mr Bohan, 41, who runs a youth group, have been together for four and a half years. They had originally planned to go to the register office the day before the blessing.
Mr Hartley said: ‘Bringing the two elements together means we are able to celebrate our love for each other and our love of God.’
The Church’s protest is based on
legal opinions saying that under European human rights law, marriage
must be equally open to everyone.
Precedents
established in Strasbourg say if a country allows gay marriage, then
gay couples must have full equality in marriage law.
Church leaders say
this means that Church laws which do not allow same-sex couples to marry
can no longer remain the law of the land, as they are now. Nor will
churches continue to be able to offer marriage to everyone.
The constitutional implication is that the Church, whose laws have been laws of the land since Henry VIII declared himself its head in 1534, will have to cut itself away from the state.
One of the bishops who prepared the Church’s protest, the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend Tim Stevens, said yesterday: ‘Marriage is not the property of the Church any more than it is the property of the Government. It is about a mutually faithful physical relationship between a man and a woman.
‘If you do what the Government say they are going to do, you can no longer define marriage in that way. It becomes hollowed out, and about a relationship between two people, to be defined on a case-by-case basis.’
He said this morning that the changes would lead to the ‘gradual unravelling of the Church of England which is a very high cost for the stability of society’.
Ben Summerskill, of gay rights pressure group Stonewall, said: ‘There is manifestly no evidence that the recognition of long-term same-sex relationships has any impact on the institution of marriage for heterosexuals.’
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s today programme, he accused the Church of England of ‘obsessing’ over sex instead of focusing on other issues such as poverty.
He also described the church’s claims about equal marriage as a ‘masterclass of melodramatic scaremongering’ and pointed to new research by Stonewall that 65 per cent of people of faith in Britain say gay people should be allowed to marry.
Campaigner Peter Tatchell said: ‘It is absurd to suggest that allowing same-sex civil marriages would lead to legal challenges that could force churches to marry gay couples.
‘Civil divorces are legal, yet there has never been a successful legal challenge to religious organisations that ban divorce.
‘The courts recognise a distinction between civil and religious institutions.’
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If gay marriage, or separation of church and state, ever get past Parliament, the Queen would be being asked to break her Coronation Oath to sign them into law. To quote from Cranmer’s blog this morning –
“Where is the power on earth to absolve me from the observance of every sentence of that Oath, particularly the one requiring me to maintain the Protestant Reformed Religion? Was not my family seated on the Throne for that express purpose, and shall I be the first to suffer it to be undermined, perhaps overturned? No, No, I had rather beg my bread from door to door throughout Europe, than consent to any such measure. I can give up my crown and retire from power. I can quit my palace and live in a cottage. I can lay my head on a block and lose my life, but I cannot break my Oath. If I violate that Oath, I am no longer legal Sovereign in this country”
Is this what Cameron really wants? Is this what we want?
Is this government really listening???
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I am attend church weekly, but had to have a civil marriage as my husband was divorced. Although i have no problems with same sex civil ceromonies why should they be allowed to marry in a church and i wasn’t?
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Under the law of the land l don’t think the Church of England can split away from the state. the original charter for the church as set by Henry was dissolved by Mary so the Anglican Communion known as the Church of England in the country was set up by Elizabeth as the state church. this charter is important to all those who knock the church but worship as baptists methodists etc in the christian church and the jewish and muslim faiths because it allows groups to worship freely in this country. without the charter or the church of england that freedom will go.
As for gay marriages, from what l have read and understand this can only be done as a civil ceremony and not via either the anglican or roman catholic churches. Christian marriage has been set for nearly two thousand years and its a matter of faith not civic law just as it is in the Jewish and Muslim faiths.
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Are there really that many gay votes available in this country that government will do anything to get them.
– TS, Wisbech, 12/6/2012 10:35
I would suggest that the government are doing this because it’s the right thing to do.
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The separation of church and state? What kind of mad, radical idea is that? Who would come up with such a thing?
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So the gay brigade are out again as seen in the ratings! The government has absolutely no mandate to make it law for all religions to conduct gay marriages. It is not just the Church of England that is involved here, they are also forcing Muslims, Jews, Hindus etc to adopt this. Civil ceremonies are just fine for same sex unions, no-one has the right to demand relgions change their basic teachings.
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I will state up front that I am an atheist but as far as I am concerned the churches should have the right to decide who they allow to marry in their churches. The Catholic Church doesn’t allow divorced people to marry in their churches and that is their right to do so. However if the government wants to enable gay couples to marry under the law of the land then that is an entirely different thing. Personally I don’t agree with it but I know that these days I am in the minority.
– Rosie, ex-pat, Darwin, Australia ======= Rosie you are therefore advocating that an unelected and selective institution, the Church, is not bound by civil law. Are you suggesting that the church should be able which laws to abide by and which to ignore?
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It’s not about getting married in church, it’s about getting married rather than something separate like civil partnership. Why shouldn’t gay people be allowed to marry? whether it’s in a church or not is a different matter and one of religion ( even if the church view is outdated).
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The falsehoods of the church and the malign influence it has on the state has led to our dysfunctional crime ridden society based on greed, abuse and exploitation. Any split of church from state is a good thing.
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“This is bullying. ”
Hahahaha, biggest laugh I’ve had in ages!
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