Tuesday - February 15, 2011

more on same sex marriage and the debate that is brewing

Last couple of days have not been overly productive and aside from being so damn tired I had all I could do not to fall asleep at this damn machine, I just quit it for a couple of days.  Wish I had a nice sympathy inducing excuse for not doing my job.
Hell, you’d see thru that in a minute.

Glad Drew caught that utterly stupid decision with regard to the warning about wire mesh and injured burglars.  I knew I should have been all over that but really, I just couldn’t face booting up.  Just as well anyway cos the wife had me helping her haul books into charity bags etc.  We even have an encyclopaedia published in the early 20s collecting dust.  But it isn’t worth anything to collectors as we’ve looked into that.
It’s interesting to view once in awhile. The language was so different and ppl mentioned who were still very much alive at the time. 

We have a lot of things to dispose of and haven’t been very good at it. If I may say it, for once it isn’t my fault. Really.  Wife drags heels on the project and there are things here I can’t toss cos they aren’t mine to throw away.  And to be fair, she has some health problems on and off and doesn’t have the stamina to tackle it all, even if I do the work.  I’m not complaining, but I wish we could empty this old place of things because when it finally comes time to sell up, I know it’s gonna be a 30 day mad, last minute rush to try and do everything at once.

Well on to today’s story which is a couple of days old but still has folks here talking. As well it should.

Apparently, government ministers are considering Same Sex Church Weddings.
That was the headline in big bold black print. 
What bothers many and it should, is since when has it been the job of govt. ministers to tell a church that it MUST marry the odd couple in a religious ceremony where a church on religious grounds, does not recognize that sort of union.

If I have it muddled, my apologies.  Here’s the article.  See what you make of this.

Gay ‘marriages’ to be allowed in church

Ministers are proposing to change the law to allow homosexual couples to “marry” in traditional religious ceremonies – including in church.

By Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat equalities minister, is expected shortly to outline firm plans to lift the current ban on civil partnerships being conducted in places of worship.

In a political “win” for Nick Clegg and his party, the Coalition will also say that such ceremonies should for the first time be allowed to have a religious element, such as hymn-singing and readings from the Bible.

They could, it is understood, also be carried out in the future out by priests or other religious figures.
The landmark move will please equality campaigners but is likely to prompt a fierce backlash from mainstream Christian leaders, as well as some Right-leaning Tories.
The Church of England has already pledged not to allow any of its buildings to be used for civil partnership ceremonies, while last year Pope Benedict said same-sex marriage was among the “most insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good.”

Some faiths, however – including the Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Jews – support the change in the law and will apply for their
buildings to host same-sex “marriage” ceremonies.

Currently civil partnership ceremonies, which were introduced in 2005, have to be entirely secular and cannot contain any religious element, even though civil partners have almost exactly the same legal rights as married spouses.

Last year an amendment was added to the former Labour government’s Equalities Act by Lord Alli, the Labour peer, paving the way for civil partnership ceremonies to be held in places of worship if religious groups permitted this.

However, before this arrangement could be fully legal ministers would be compelled to stage a separate consultation and to pass separate legislation. This is the process to be launched by Mrs Featherstone within days.

It is as yet unclear whether the new-style civil partnerships, formalised in a place of worship, would be officially called “marriage” under the law.
This is thought to be among the questions ministers will pose during the consultation period; they will also raise issues about the financial implications of the new arrangements, including their impact on tax.

more to the story here

I believe one of the sticky problems is the public monies given in tax breaks to religious orgs. If you’re taking public money, do you have a right to deny service to anyone?  But as many see it, religion and churches aren’t as easy as all that. Religion falls outside the norm of the kind of “rights” that civil and human rights activists are always barking about.  Everything is made more complicated then logic demands. And lawyers see that it remains so.

Posted by peiper     on 02/15/2011 at 10:27 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Gay Gay Gay! •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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