All NY Epispal bishop ndidat to allow gay unns if elected | Church & Mistri News

Contents:

• ALL 4 NY EPISPAL BISHOP NDIDAT WILL ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE IF ELECTED
• MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE
• WILL CHURCH BE FORCED TO CONDUCT GAY WEDDGS?
• BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP

ALL 4 NY EPISPAL BISHOP NDIDAT WILL ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE IF ELECTED

| Getty ImagThe four ndidat for bishop of an Epispal Church dce that recently garnered headl for refg to bls same-sex marriag have dited that they will allow the Epispal Dce of Albany has been whout a bishop sce the rignatn 2021 of William Love, who had issued an open letter 2020 refg to enforce a nomatnal le requirg all dc to allow for the blsg of gay marriag. ”Ward wrote that he believ the issue of gay marriage is “tly plited” and that he rpects all sis on the issue, addg that if elected bishop, “honorg theologil diversy would be a prry. ”“Seekg rolutn and a mutual path forward would volve a basic mment to rpectg the digny of every person, affordg genero pastoral attentn to every voice, and seekg Holy mon ground on nonilly sound footg, ” Ward July 2018, the Epispal Church General Conventn passed Rolutn B012, which required all dc to bls same-sex unns, removg earlier provisns that allowed several dc to prohib such measur, due to them beg nflict wh the biblil standard of B012 allowed clergy to refe to perform gay weddgs, required bishops who oppose them to let another bishop provi pastoral support for the same-sex uple and to provi a prit to perform the November 2018, Albany Bishop Love released an open letter statg that he refed to enforce the rolutn his dce.

The rultg aln ernment ially said would reta a ban on gay marriage. As of 2020, the most recent year for which there is data, more than 42, 000 gay upl England and Wal had tied the knot. ) Pollg June found that more than three-quarters of Brons now support gay marriage, up om jt over half 2012.

It end Sectn 28, which prevented schools and lol thori om “promotg homosexualy” and troduced civil partnerships. “I don’t support gay marriage spe beg a Conservative.

MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

Gay marriag beme not an abstract threat but somethg unrtaken by iends, lleagu, neighbours. Almost half of Brons now say they know a married gay uple. Gordon Brown, Mr Cameron’s precsor, opposed gay marriage office bee was “timately bound up wh qutns of relig eedom”.

Though Bra was not the first to legalise , 19 other untri have sce given gay marriage their blsg. But has led to a of eccliastil disrd as liberal members of the church argue for the right to perform or partake gay marriag.

A group of mps led by Ben Bradshaw, a gay Anglin, is lookg at ways to amend the legislatn to allow willg prits and parish to take part, which they argue uld also help boost dwdlg numbers the aisl. Last June, Denmark’s parliament passed a law requirg church to nduct gay marriage ceremoni.

WILL CHURCH BE FORCED TO CONDUCT GAY WEDDGS?

When Maryland voters legalized gay marriage November, a nservative iend sent me a lk to the Denmark story to expla why he’d voted agast his state’s ballot iative. He says gay marriage don’t bother him, but he’s nvced that as tak root, church and other relig stutns will be forced to embrace . And the history of how our urts and ernment have safeguard those relig rights weigh fively on the si of allowg church to refe to perform weddgs for gay upl for as long as they so choose.

I’m sayg that the law balanc the civil rights of gay people agast the civil rights of relig groups—and that ntt, the church (and mosqu and synagogu) w. In theory, the ernment uld direct the behavr of church by mandatg that they perform gay unns or punishg those who don’t by nyg them benefs— particular, tax-exempt stat.

But the same le most cidly do not apply to relig groups that discrimate agast women or gay people. In s like the brought by gay people, the first qutn is whether state law prohibs discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn, bee feral law do not. I’m happy to say I don’t thk this would fly the 21 stat (pl the District of Columbia) that do protect the rights of gay people.

BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP

But remember, we are still a long way om church beg forced to marry gay upl or hire gay misters.

When stat have laws that prohib anti-gay discrimatn spac open to the public, they generally exempt “actual plac of worship, the anizatns they operate, and certa private anizatns, ” acrdg to this 2012 law review article. When the law was proposed last sprg, relig groups railed that would require church to rent buildgs to gay upl “for drag parti. Bee of the backlash, the cy uncil reworked the proposal, leavg out public spac entirely, and June put to effect only limed protectns agast beg fired or evicted for beg gay.