The Church of England has warned the Government not to go ahead with plans to legalise gay marriage.
In a response to the Prime Minister's announcement of the equal
marriage bill yesterday, the Church of England said its defence of the
traditional understanding of marriage was "not knee-jerk resistance to
change".
Rather, the Church said it was defending the traditional definition
of marriage out of a "conviction that the consequences of change will
not be beneficial for society as a whole".
"Our concern is for the way the meaning of marriage will change for
everyone, gay or straight, if the proposals are enacted," the statement
said.
"Because we believe that the inherited understanding of marriage
contributes a vast amount to the common good, our defence of that
understanding is motivated by a concern for the good of all in society."
The Church defended the "uniqueness" of marriage, saying that it
embodied the distinctiveness of men and women seen most explicitly in
their union's potential for procreation.
It warned that changing the nature of marriage forever would be
"divisive and deliver no obvious legal gains given the rights already
conferred by civil partnerships".
"We believe that redefining marriage to include same-sex
relationships will entail a dilution in the meaning of marriage for
everyone by excluding the fundamental complementarity of men and women
from the social and legal definition of marriage," the Church said.
The Church also expressed concern that there was no democratic
mandate for the legalisation of marriage as it had not been referred to
in the Queen's speech or in any party manifesto.
"In our view the Government will require an overwhelming mandate from
the consultation to move forward with on these proposals and to make
them a legislative priority," it said.
The equal marriage bill is to be introduced to Parliament next week.
David Cameron said the bill would allow same-sex marriage ceremonies to
be performed in churches.
He insisted that churches would not be forced to perform the ceremonies.
However, his assurances were dismissed by the Christian Legal Centre,
which warned that equality legislation will not provide any effective
protection for churches from litigation.
"Any such assurances are meaningless," said CLC director Andrea Minichiello Williams.
“At the Christian Legal Centre we have seen countless cases where
Christians have been forced out of their jobs for their refusal to
condone and promote homosexual practice. Their views have not been respected or accommodated and Mr Cameron has ignored their plight.
This does not bode well for British Christians if further
legislation is passed. Assurances to churches who do not wish to perform
same-sex ‘marriages’ fly in the face of all the evidence."