LGBT News Same-sex marriage: Church of England denies blessings

It's rather disheartening, but I sort of expected this.

 

I can see their point, they are a religion, they have customs that are very old and have a limit to how flexible they can be. When you start to define everything as "okay" within your religion then you end up not having much of a religion left. I am assuming the pastoral care for LGTB couples will be to avoid the topic.

 

well, given that technically the bible is distinctly anti-church, I don't think it matters all that much.

 

Urgh they are once again looking more out of touch with the uk public

 

Maybe I am just stereotyping based on things I've read online, but I have always thought the church does not really have a significant presence in modern day UK as most of the younger generations do not attend a church or adhere to religion as much. It seems like the same is happening in the US--it seems with each generation, statistics show less and less adherence to a religion (or at least dogma) and more of an emphasis on humanitarian interests, ethics, science, reason and rationality.

 

I'd say that a lot of people are embracing faith, but denying religion. Most of the younger Christians I know, even the ones in their 40s, will say that church is not necessary to be a Christian. I'd like to see a world where people are less dependent on the church, and maybe practiced their faith at home.

You know, when I become an adult, if I have children, I'll probably teach them about the Bible at home and encourage them to have their own thoughts about it. And, if I marry someone of a different religion, I'll help teach them about that religion as well. But the most important thing, as Incognito said, is that they learn ethics (to me, at least).

That said, the Church of England really is alienating people by excluding same-sex couples. -_-

 

I feel like one of the few who couldn't care less if a certain denomination has decided against blessing same-sex marriages. There are plenty of Christian denominations who will, and providing the extent of their discrimination is simply that a blessing will not be given to the union as it contravenes their interpretation of scripture then my thoughts are "oh, OK, I'll join a denomination whose beliefs align more closely with my own". The church has long been out of touch with the majority of the UK public, but then it has been a while since the majority of the UK public were actively involved with the Church of England as believers. If it were to fully embrace same-sex marriage it would alienate quite a few of their more active members, and another shift to Catholic churches would be seen as those with less-progressive views find refuge in a different denomination. Whatever they do people will be alienated, it just depends on who and whether the church can afford the gamble.

That and I view this as a transitional stage for the Church of England. Change does not happen overnight, and if it is going to happen it is going to take a while longer for same-sex marriage to be fully embraced by the Church of England as a whole.

 

They have a right to practice their religion as they so choose as long as they do not have a say in the recognition of gay marriage by the state. If you don't like it, find a new church.

One of the things I love about the United States is that we have a distinct separation of church and state, that is not to say that religious beliefs do not sway our legislature, but that no religion has a direct input in our legislature.

 

we have that in theory, but thanks to the corrupted republican party, which is corrupted by the fundementist religious right wing (or what jesus called 'Charletians and False Prophets), seperate of church and state doesnt prevent our legislative bodies from forcing through fake-christian ideologies into law.

 

What I'm confused about though, is that this is technically a form of discrimination and is therefore illegal. If you allow a hetero couple to get married in your church, it is then illegal to turn down a same-sex marriage, surely? Its like those cases of homophobia with the B&B's. That was illegal, why isn't this?

 

Legally they aren't allowed to marry them although other churches will be, which is another reason we need separation of church and state and to disestablish the CofE -- here, the state is interfering with religion as a way of pacifying those who say allowing gay marriage will infringe upon religious freedom. For the church to internally deny blessings to already-married couples on top of this is awful, though at some point, in the near or far future, I expect the decision to be reversed.

And with members of their own church, who are, as far as I recall, mostly in favour of same-sex marriage. I would not be surprised if some individual vicars etc. try to get around not being allowed to bless same-sex couples.

Correct, at least based on things I have also read online. The UK is getting less Christian; although a slight majority still identify as Christian, a third of these people never pray, a third (possibly overlapping) don't think prayer works, a bunch only identify as Christian culturally/because their parents are religious, and many think they are still Christian just because they have been baptised or christened although they don't follow the religion.

FYI, the Lords Spiritual are 26 non-elected CofE bishops in the House of Lords who influence the state and its recognition of gay marriage.

I wish that we had official separation of church and state like you; it's a good legal model, even if not adhered to.

A) When it comes to the internal squabbles of the CofE and other churches, discrimination rules like that do not apply as in main society, though there may be ones protecting from racial discrimination. The CofE discriminates in not allowing women to become bishops, but that is not illegal. (They are going to allow celibate gay men soon, by the wayside.)

B) Discussing marriage rather than blessings...

"Because" is the best reason that there is, really. Religious institutions are legally obliged to marry any heterosexual couple within their catchment, even if the couple are not Christian, are interracial and the church objects to that, or if for any other reason the church does not want to marry them. However, when same-sex marriage is legalised they will not be obliged to marry same-sex couples if they have objections to them, which is clearly unfair.