That marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

[OneHumanFamily]

The House Of Bishops Report proposes no change to ecclesiastical law or to the Church of England’s existing doctrinal position on marriage and sexual relationships. The Report also says that the Church needs to repent for homophobic attitudes. Anglicanism has always been a contested faith: Will homosexuality eventually be accepted?

www.churchofengland.org/media/3863472/gs-2055-marriage-and-same-sex-relationships-after-the-shared-conversations-report-from-the-house-of-bishops.pdf

Anon, did you know that there are a lot of gay clergy in the C of End and at least one bishop? It seems odd to call them homophobic. The situation in the C if E is much more complex than you make out which is great if you want to throw stones from the outside but not if you are trying to work from the inside to effect change.

What seems to be at the heart of the issue is how Christians read scripture. For some it is the literal word of God, for others it is not and there are loads of points in between. It looks messy from the outside and it is pretty messy on the inside as the church moves slowly and sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it is not. It took years to get to a point where women could be ordained as priests and it is likely to be years before we are allowed to bless civil partnerships. It might be possible for individual churches to have some freedom of manoeuvre so my liberal inclusive church might be allowed to have blessings for civil partnerships as we already will marry divorcees. The more conservative church up the road may decide not to do that but that is their decision. More weddings for us!

Anon..you've kind of missed my point...

there are a lot of gay clergy in the C of End and at least one bishop?
I am sure their are lots of gay people in the church, all those cloistered young priests have always been a magnet for gay men. But I am not saying any individual is homophobic, it is the church, it laws and its law makers that are culpable.

Certainly not throwing stones, maybe poking the hornets nest, along with the majority of the public trying to get the church to change and stop discriminating against homosexuals.

What seems to be at the heart of the issue is how Christians read scripture I get that that is the excuse reason but it is not a good enough one. Society has realized that discriminating against people based on their sexuality is wrong. So the church will have to accept this or it will eventually be forced on them.

It is just not acceptable in the modern world to use scripture as a reason for any sort of discrimination. So the church needs to come up with a fudge to change this as fast as possible.

Calling an organization homophobic because it denies oppertunities to homosexuals (marriage) is in my opinion a flawed one.

If you are atheist, is nature homphobic because it denies homosexuals from reproducing? Is nature guilty of discrimination? Should nature be forced to change to allow equal oppertunities for homosexuals?
Marriage, has from the beginning been an covenant between man, woman and god.
Without religion marriage wouldn't exist.
So, like how civil partnerships were designed for homosexuals, marriage was designed for heterosexuals.
Civil partnerships are in no way heterosexist, they are in no way offensive to heterosexuals. So too isn't marriage in no way homophobic?

May I add, I am not homophobic. People can do what they want, I am no judge, my opinion doesn't come above the rights of others. People should not be judged by me vocally IF I disagree. My post above is only me voicing a side of an argument I can kind of understand. But I only air this view in the light of this being a debate. I won't go out and protest or sign any political petition, as it is only an argument I am willing to debate on such a forum where people wish to learn and think. And with all debate, my comment is in no way meant to change peoples minds, as to make people think, and learn. So please, take my last comment exactly how is was meant, as an comment to make people think.

And the comment about nature changing was illustrative. In the fact it is the law of nature which people in no way wish to change by force.

Marriage isn't natural, neither is religion. They're man made concepts that have changed constantly throughout history.

Gunslinger that doesn't interfere with my point.

I left church because I couldn't bear the fact that some sections of society were marginalised.

We have openly gay couples at our C of E church and no one bats an eyelid. I think they should be able to be married in church and I think the church is moving in that direction. Our church is modern with a young population and that probably helps. I believe the Pope in recent years has also said no one should judge people who are gay.
I would also like to point out there are homophobic aethiests.

There most certainly are campfiresmoke. I wouldn't hang out with them either!

My church (also CofE) was asking us to pray against gay marriage and I couldn't.

is nature homphobic because it denies homosexuals from reproducing? - Nature is a lot more diverse than that, it can reproduce asexually, it can reproduce by parthenogenesis, there are even hermaphrodites who can self fertilise.
Humans are sentient sapient beings, we long ago climbed out of the cave and decided our morality is not based on what nature does or does not do.

Marriage, has from the beginning been an covenant between man, woman and god - Nope! Historically marriage was not about the relationship between the man and the woman and until recently love had little to do with it, it was a way of getting in-laws, of making alliances and expanding the family labor force. The church co-opted marriage around the 12th century.

Civil partnerships are in no way heterosexist, they are in no way offensive to heterosexuals. - Yes civil partnerships do in fact discriminate against heterosexuals and that is why there is legal and political campaigns for equality.

So too isn't marriage in no way homophobic? - I have never claimed marriage is homophobic, we now have equal marriage. I have said that the church is homophobic because it denies lgtb Christians the right to get married within their religion.

May I add, I am not homophobic - and yet your supporting the discrimination of homosexuals. ?