They want to have their cake and eat it.

In England, the official state church, The Church of England, has just declared it will not conduct same sex marriages. As I see it, as His Majesty's Government had approved same sex marriages, His Majesty's Church should be obligated to conduct them. If they don't like it, they should withdraw their unelected representives from Parliament and ask His Majesty to step done as head of their little club. Then they can continue on an equal footing with other religious groups.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

HootyTheNightOwl

Umm... how is this different to the teachings of the Catholic church???

Lynda70 · F

@HootyTheNightOwl The difference is that the Catholic church is a members club, the CoE is the official state church with its own, unelected, representatives in Parliament.

HootyTheNightOwl

@Lynda70 Without the monarch at its head, there would be no CoE - you do understand it's history and how it was formed, right???

Just because the government approves of same sex marriage, it doesn't mean that the church has to bend its own beliefs and teachings in order to conduct same sex wedding ceremonies... there's no shortage of places to marry that don't include churches.

Do I agree with the churches stance on this??? No, but the only way that anyone can change it is to buy a church privately and conduct blessings of same sex marriages of their own accord. Fortunately, you don't need any special requirements to do this.

Lynda70 · F

@HootyTheNightOwl Having the monarch as its head give the CoE a preferential position. It could still exist as a religious organization, equal to any other, without the monarch as its head and without its unelected representatives in Parliament. HMG approves same sex marriages so HMC(oE) should conduct them.