Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Archbishop loses the spirit of Christmas
In seeking to comment on the Christmas message of the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, that government's plans to introduce same-sex marriage, arem"shambolic" and the product of "shallow thinking", I can do no better than quote the chief executive of the organisation Stonewall, Ben Summerskill.
He has pointed out that polling evidence has suggested that a majority of the general public are in favour of same- sex marriage:
"We do think it's very sad that an archbishop should sully the day of the birth of Jesus by making what seem to be such uncharitable observations about other people.
"Some of us are mindful of Luke 2:14, which reminds us that Christmas Day is a day of peace and goodwill to all men. Perhaps Archbishop Nichols should have spent a little more time in Bible study."
After all the government has said that, under its plans to legalise gay marriage, no religious group would be obliged to perform such ceremonies against its will.
And if we are talking about democratic mandates then who elected the Archbishop? Church and state have been separated for some time in this country, it is not for the Catholic Church or any other religious institution to start dictating the policy of the government.
He has pointed out that polling evidence has suggested that a majority of the general public are in favour of same- sex marriage:
"We do think it's very sad that an archbishop should sully the day of the birth of Jesus by making what seem to be such uncharitable observations about other people.
"Some of us are mindful of Luke 2:14, which reminds us that Christmas Day is a day of peace and goodwill to all men. Perhaps Archbishop Nichols should have spent a little more time in Bible study."
After all the government has said that, under its plans to legalise gay marriage, no religious group would be obliged to perform such ceremonies against its will.
And if we are talking about democratic mandates then who elected the Archbishop? Church and state have been separated for some time in this country, it is not for the Catholic Church or any other religious institution to start dictating the policy of the government.
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What you are advocating for Peter 'in all but name' is government interference in Church/Religious matters.
# posted by 
: 4:52 PM
: 4:52 PM
There is no government interference in church matters here. I am happy to respect their views even if I disagree with them but they have absolute choice to conduct gay marriages or not. Nobody is forcing this on them.
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