On-going reflections on same-sex marriage

A week on from the vote, in the House of Lords, it seems even clearer now, Parliament are intent on a re-definition of marriage, to enable same sex couples to marry. Personally, I agree with Justin Welby’s perspective - this will undermine a cornerstone of British society.

It’s potentially, a wake up call for the Church – he says, desperately trying to find a positive! If I’m honest, I did think the House of Lords might vote against the bill: thinking they still weighed morality, as a sufficient component, in their decision-making. What this shows, however, is not only is the institution of the church, well and truly pushed into the margins of our society, but the Christian values, which have often acted as an anchor for our drifting society, are no longer able to hold us to any clear moral foundations. Education, law, government, the welfare state, to name obvious ones, have all been wrenched from the Christian values, which underpinned them.  

As yet, implications remain unclear in many ways – legal ‘experts’ cannot yet agree on what adultery is, for a same sex couple, or whether the status of lesbian woman, in a same sex marriage is classed as a parent. The whole thing is, frankly, confused. Will, Baptists, need to consider some level of civil disobedience, is not clear either, as yet.

One thing, which is clear to me, however, is the overwhelming majority of people, who worship in our churches don’t agree with the stance the Government is taking, do look to God's word as their authority, but they are fearful about saying so.