Archbishop Peter Smith has?criticized Cameron?s plans to legalize same-sex marriage on the BBC and?Bishop Egan has published his letter to the Prime Minister on the issue. Archbishop Smith qualified as a lawyer and Bishop Philip Egan has a doctorate in theology:
Extract from Archbishop Smith?s BBC statement:
Yesterday saw the publication of the Government?s response to the Equal Marriage Consultation. This response has ignored the key concern expressed by many people in this country; that is the proposed change to the meaning of marriage.
We are in danger of forgetting what marriage has always meant: a union of one man and one woman for love and mutual support, open to the procreation of children.
It is more than a way of recognising committed loving relationships. Marriage matters to families, stability, and the common good of society. We risk grave long term social loss by rushing into such ill-considered legislative change.
Religious freedom is not the primary issue in this debate, but it is very important. Any protections, whether or not they are cemented in statute, are open to challenge in the European Court of Human Rights and subject to the will of future Parliaments.
The prime minister is against statutory regulation of the press because he fears that a subsequent Parliament might amend the Act.
If future Parliaments cannot be trusted to respect the freedom of the press, can they truly be trusted to uphold these ?quadruple locks? that supposedly protect religious freedom?
Extract from Bishop Egan?s letter to PM David Cameron:
You have said you are an enthusiastic supporter of marriage and that you do not want ?gay?people to be excluded from a great institution.? Yet I wish respectfully to point out that behind?what you say lurks a basic philosophical misconception about the nature of ?equality.? Equality?can never be an absolute value, only a derivative and relative value. After all, a man cannot be a?mother nor a woman a father, and so men and women can never be absolutely equal, only?relatively equal, since they are biologically different. So too with marriage. Marriage, ever?since the dawn of human history, is a union for life and love between a man and a woman. It is?a complementary relationship between two people of the opposite sex, the man and the woman?not being the same, but different. They are not, in other words, absolutely equal but relatively?equal. This is why gay couples, two men or two women, are not being ?excluded? from?marriage; they simply cannot enter marriage.
More, you are ignoring the huge opposition of Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, as well as?that of a huge number of ordinary people. You are imposing the aspirations of a tiny minority?on the vast majority. Make no mistake, the change you are proposing is of immense?significance. By it, you will be luring the people of England away from their common Christian?values and Christian patrimony, and forcing upon us all a brave new world, artificially?engineered. What you are proposing will smother the traditional Christian ethos of our society?and in time strangle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church in Britain to conduct its?mission. There is no sanction whatsoever in the Bible and the Judaeo-Christian tradition for gay?marriage. I cannot see how anyone who claims to be a Christian can possibly justify what you?are intending to do.?I know you have spoken of the ?quadruple lock? and other legal safeguards. Yet for me many?grave concerns remain about the brave new world you are fashioning in the name of the false?gods of equality and diversity. For example, will I as a Christian have to support your ideology?when preaching? Will you exempt the Church, its resources and premises, from charges of?discrimination if it declines to host same-sex social activities? Will Catholic schools, Catholic?societies, Catholic charities and Catholic institutions be free (and legally protected) to teach the?full truth of Christ and the real meaning of life and love?
Protect the Pope comment: Both Archbishop Smith and Bishop Egan ask David Cameron specific questions that need answering by the Prime Minister and the Coalition government. Cameron?s same-sex marriage plans appear to be as poorly thought out as his ill-fated pastie-tax. That the coalition government would propose to change one of the foundations of our society with the same incompetence that they displayed over a fast food product raises questions about their fitness to govern.
http://www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk/bishop/talks_and_addresses/2012-12-15-Letter-to-PM.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20699917
Source: http://protectthepope.com/?p=6217
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