Skip to main content

Equal Love


I'm glad that there's now a proper campaign in Britain for same-sex marriage: Equal Love.

Living in Massachusetts in 2004 when same-sex marriage came in there I've been impatient to see people fighting for it in the UK.

I'm not sure however, about the part of the campaign to allow civil partnerships to be open to different-sex couples. It is logical I suppose. But I've always viewed civil parnterships as an insufficent step towards marriage, and if marriage is available to everyone, then why would anyone want a civil partnership?

Also, where does this leave our campaign for allowing civil partnerships to be conducted in places of worship? Surely this will now become irrelevant, if we can perform same-sex marriages? Or do we still want to perform civil partnerships? If so what exactly is "civil" about them if they are, religious? Surely if they're allowed for all couples the defining characteristic of civil partnerships will be that they would be non-religious?

Also, what will be the process of a civil partnership converting to a marriage? Or vice versa?

You see the reason I was never in favour of civil partnerships wasn't just because they're not good enough, not equality. It's also because they make things unneccesarily complicated. I've always thought it was more logical, simple and fair to open civil marriage to all couples, allowing religious groups to define for themselves who they want to marry.

Anyway despite all these complications it's good to see the campagin for same sex marriage finally get underway in the UK. It's about time!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Let's keep some hold on the meaning of words ! Marriage for the covenanted union of a man and a woman,whether in church or elsewhere ;civil partnership for other forms of relationship - why shouldn't a man who has cared for his mentally disabled sister for many years ( a situation known to me personally )be able to have his commitment honoured and respected under the law/by a religious body every bit as much as two gays ?
4:32 pm
ian said…
Interesting how the above comment is Anonymous! I guess its encouraging that folks who want to keep marriage for straight folks need to post anonymously.

I think having a two tier law is problematic, yes. Either make marriage universal or make civil partnership the de-facto.

My personal preference would be to see government get out of the marriage business all together. Make civil partnership a legal contract between two people conferring a particular set of legal rights and responsibilities. Then marriage is purely a social or religious thing. I know some evangelical Christians who think that anyway, that government marriage is nothing of the sort, that the only marriage is marriage in church (even if, as was, the church they attend can't conduct legal marriages).

Civil partnerships, as a legal contract, should then be open to a much larger range of people. Including family members (as the famous case of the aged spinster sisters made clear). Different denominations of church would be free to be as bigoted as they like with the definition of marriage, under the firm understanding that whatever they thought about it, it made not a jot of difference.
5:56 pm
Anonymous said…
Ian chides me for posting anonymously but on inspecting his w/site,I find nothing that reveals his identity either ;what's the problem ?
6:25 pm
Stephen Lingwood said…
On the "traditional definition" of marriage, please see this article: http://archielevine.blogspot.com/2008/11/traditional-marriage-perverts-tradition.html
10:17 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What does it mean to be non-creedal?

Steve Caldwell says "The problem here isn't humanism vs. theism for theist Unitarian Universalists -- it's the non-creedal nature of Unitarian Universalism" This is a good point. We need to think much more deeply about what it means to be a non-creedal religion. The first thing I want to say is that there is more than one possible understanding of non-creedalism. The Disciples of Christ are a non-creedal church, they say here : " Freedom of belief. Disciples are called together around one essential of faith: belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Persons are free to follow their consciences guided by the Bible, the Holy Spirit study and prayer, and are expected to extend that freedom to others." Quakers are also non-creedal and say here : Quakers have no set creed or dogma - that means we do not have any declared statements which you have to believe to be a Quaker. There are, however, some commonly held views which unite us. One accepted view is that th...
3 comments
Read more

LOST and theology: who are the good guys?

***Spoiler alert*** I'm continuing some theological/philosophical reflections while re-watching the series LOST. One of the recurring themes in LOST is the idea of the "good guys" and the "bad guys." We start the series assuming the survivors (who are the main characters) are the "good guys" and the mysterious "Others" are definitely bad guys. But at the end of series 2 one of the main characters asks the Others, "Who are  you people?" and they answer, in an extremely disturbing way, "We're the good guys." The series develops with a number of different factions appearing, "the people from the freighter" "the DHARMA initiative" as well as divisions among the original survivors. The question remains among all these complicated happenings "who really are the good guys?" I think one of the most significant lines in the series is an episode when Hurley is having a conversation with ...
3 comments
Read more

What is Radical Christianity?

Radical Christianity is about encountering the God of love . It is first and foremost rooted in the discovery of a universal and unconditional source of love at the heart of reality and within each person. God is the name we give to this source of love. It is possible to have a direct and real personal encounter with this God through spiritual practice. We encounter God, and are nourished by God, through the regular practice of prayer, or contemplation.  Radical Christianity is about following a man called Jesus . It is rooted in the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish prophet living under occupation of the Roman Empire two thousand years ago. It understands that's Jesus' message was the message of liberation. His message was that when we truly encounter God, and let God's love flow through us, we begin to be liberated from the powers of empire and violence and encounter the  "realm of God" - an alternative spiritual and social reality rooted in love rather th...
Post a Comment
Read more