Commenting on the announcement to allow civil partnership ceremonies to take place in religious buildings and on the consultation to look at the next steps for civil partnerships and civil marriage, Liberal Democrat Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone said:
“Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for equal rights for same-sex couples and last autumn our Conference formally endorsed the Liberal Democrat policy to campaign for equal marriage.
“There is much demand from same-sex couples to allow civil partnerships to take place in a religious setting and to end the difference between marriage and civil partnerships. We have been listening to this.
“I am delighted that same-sex partners will now be able to hold their civil partnerships in religious buildings and that the Coalition will look at what the next steps for civil partnerships will be.”
Lynne Featherstone 
This is good news. Well done!
This is fantastic news and issues in a balancing not merely of gay rights, which is long overdue, but also of religious rights. It is important not to forget that we currently deny some celebrants and their congregants from carrying out marriage in accordance with their religion (the Quakers, liberal Jews and others who wish to marry same sex partners). This is as wrong as enforcing a particular belief of one religion against all others, which I believe is the reasoning behind allowing religious civil partnerships.
God never changes and Truth never changes- only man falls in to sin and error. For thousand of years marriage was only between a man and a woman and has always been the right order. Society is so rebellious of what is right true and just- we are like Rome in 70AD. We do not respect God any more or His 10 commandments or the natural law. In the name of euqal opportunities why not allow brothwer and isster to get married too or hald brother and sister. To use and ursurp the word marriage to a sinful sexual union between 2 people of the same sex is wring always has been wrong and awlays will be morally worng. God never changes the and TRUTT about man and God’s revealed law in the 10 commandment of Moses to us never changes. Amen!!!!
Cleansing of the Temple
“Jesus entered the Temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers.'” (Matthew 21:12-13)
“Christians entered the Churches on the same day and drove out all the queers who were engaging in civil ceremonies. They overturned their tables and wrecked their attire and pushed out the sodomite supporters. ‘It is written,’ they said to them, ‘The Lord’s house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of perverts.”
Lynne featherstone later repented, realising the error of her ways and wanting to enter heaven one day – like a clean virgin bride, cleansed herself in her heart by accepting Jesus Christ as he Lord and Saviour – accepting his sacrifice on the cross as payment for her personal sin.
I wonder – Ray Crossman
Sadly, there is no point in arguing with people who choose to hide behind religion to cover bigotry.
It is a well-trodden argument now that literal readings of the Bible are completely incompatible with modern life and we have ignored other parts which we now consider outdated, where we have learnt better (we do not stone each other, for example). It is also well-known that the Bible was written by people, with their own social, political and economic interests. How hypocritical of certain “Christians” to abandon the parts that no longer fit with their reality, but retain those which do not affect them (assuming the people above are hetereosexual).
Also, last time I checked, we live in a free and democratic society where people are free to follow whichever religion they wish, or none at all. Christianity (and is not fair to say that all Christians share these homophobic views) should not carry the deciding vote. Marriage is a matter of personal choice, not something for the rest of society to pass judgement on. Most of us would now consider practices where people from different races, or different social classes could not marry ridiculous, because we now know that the “natural laws” these rules were intended to protect were social constructs, justifying discrimination, stupidity and fear, and protecting the interests of groups benefiting from the status quo. A person’s sexual preference is an equally arbitrary measure on which to exclude people from society.
If gay people organised rallies calling for religious people to be denied access to adoption, marriage and teaching (lest they “poison” generations of children), there would be outcry from the religious, who believe they are “right” in their beliefs and there is no other way.
Personally, I would never judge someone for being religious, it is what they believe and that is none of my business. But is a belief, not a fact of biology. There is considerably more evidence to suggest that some people are just gay – and that there always have and always will be gay people – than there is to prove the existence of god.
So maybe people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones…
Amy Wilson says – “Sadly, there is no point in arguing with people who choose to hide behind religion to cover bigotry.”
Why keep bashing the Christians (and most other faiths)? The plain truth is that most human beings acknowledge “natural” law.
People have a basic, ethical intuition that certain behaviors are wrong because they are unnatural. We perceive intuitively that the natural sex partner of a human is another human, not an animal.
The same reasoning applies to the case of homosexual behavior. The natural sex partner for a man is a woman, and the natural sex partner for a woman is a man. Thus, people have the corresponding intuition concerning homosexuality that they do about bestiality—that it is wrong because it is unnatural.
Natural law reasoning is the basis for almost all standard moral intuitions. For example, it is the dignity and value that each human being naturally possesses that makes the needless destruction of human life or infliction of physical and emotional pain immoral. This gives rise to a host of specific moral principles, such as the unacceptability of murder, kidnapping, mutilation, physical and emotional abuse, and so forth.
i agree,however ‘natural law’ or any law surely must acknowledge that a father to a child is not a fucking throw away pregnancy aid you replace with another partner who does not have responsibilities to the children directly and therefore the biological “father”? still has to pay towards the upkeep of the child/children he is getting no help to see? as for unmarried “fathers”? there is no protection at all for them in what the mother does with the children, this includes denying the access between father and children, brainwashing children, not turning up to court dates, ignoring “access given” and writing their own rules,…….now natural law should without being prompted understand that a father who fights to see his child/children who are say 6 and 7 years old and they are now 20 and 21 years old and he has not been given the access he recieved by the childrens courts from the mother has stopped him seeing his babies grow into adults and not a person in this world would like it to happen to them..sorry but when gay marriage is given so much more everything than natural fathers then natural ethical intuition is where? what is wrong with this fucking world? do we want to eventually kill off natural fathers for a laboratory way that takes away any kind of genetic rights..
jesus entered the temple and what? RAY CROSSMAN tell me now why jesus is not josephs child? and predicting your answer as a ‘miracle’ of god where does that leave joseph as a father were it today? if that was a situation that really happened then how would it be if it was today it happened.?would joseph have full parental rights? would he have to go through adoption channels? would it affect the family finance if he were not seen as the childs father? and if the father on the birth certificate was not joseph but ‘god’ would proof not have to be given such as dna? i have nothing against faith i have eveything about such flimsy unproven acts as quoting mathew, your living your life by these quotes and you dont have a clue how to prove the right to use them..its fucking scary to me when a grown man /woman can bypass their own doubts and quote a fucking line that is ok for your own faith but how can you expect to use this on someone who has questions someone who needs answers? i find it offensivew when my door is banged on most weeks by a religious group(wont name) and its not wanted by me,i have had so many times of asking for understanding and still it happens, 12 years on,l i dont want to report it but the lack of respect is obvious, its a fact of life that some people dont have facts on…dont preach it to me…if you spend your life without religion but treat everyone equal all your life and it turns out there is a higher being, would you be turned away in death?
Have homosexuals considered treatment for their illness?
No – because the illness attacks the “pride” area of the brain and as it is written in Romans “They are given over to their intoxicating lusts”.
Homosexuality is a powerful affliction and probably can only be cured by God through his miraculous intervention working through faith believing Christians.
To those people seeking help get in touch with a spirit filled Christian Church – their love for you will yeild tremendous benefit.
Christians have a standard – but they also share a great love – It’s God’s two edged sword – sadly many miss the message.
Homosexuals don’t need marriage – they need the message.
I wonder if the Homosexual lobby group STONEWALL would sighn a degree that Marriage is a Godly creation and that they will not encroach upon the religious beliefs of Christians and stealing this very accurate God given word?
I wonder if they will give an oath never to encroach on the church to have queer partnerships ceremones take place there.
I wonder also whether the queer politicians and their cohorts would respect that God made man and woman and the normal association between them is the proper way to bring up children?
I wonder if the homosexuals have an contact with the true God.
For all have sinned and only through Jesus can we be saved.