Doug PollardGay Marriage - with knobs on
June 17th 2008 03:44
Marriage Equality
Why anyone worries about gay men in the Anglican church is beyond me. For more than fifty years it’s been affectionately known as the biggest gay club in England. The only difference is, the clergy are now coming out of the vestry. And about time too. To hide your sexuality requires constant dishonesty and deception, hardly welcome or healthy traits for a man of God. Better out than in.
Who cares? If he’s a good priest, what does it matter? It doesn’t, any more than it matters of you’re a gay doctor, trucker, teacher, parent – what matters is how well you do the job.
As to marrying? Well, I’ve had a bellyful of people going on about how one-man-one-woman is the God-given natural standard. If these people actually read their Bibles (instead of throwing them at people) they would know that the Biblical standard of marriage is polygamy – one man, many women. Monogamy hardly gets a look in. It’s a modern invention.
And if they studied history and their anthropology – or even just used Google once in a while - they would know that many cultures have had same-sex marriages in the past, and some still do. It just happens to have fallen out of fashion in Western culture in recent times.
And as for that old chestnut about gay marriages threatening straight marriages . . . . all that means is, some straights think they’re better than gays and lesbians, and if gays start marrying and settling down and having kids, those poor straight folks won’t feel so special any more.
They won’t be able to sneer down their noses. They will have to take notice of the fact that we are in essence no different to them, and behave accordingly. And about time too.
In the midst of all the holier-than-thou stuff, I take heart from the words of the vicar who led the two priests ‘marriage’ service, The Rev Martin Dudley, who has obviously retained his sense of humour and his sense of proportion.
"I am surprised and disappointed by the fuss. It was a joyful, godly occasion. Why turn it into a controversy? It was not a rally or a demonstration," he said.
It was not the first time there had been prayers, hymns or readings following a civil partnership, he said, adding, "It may be that this ceremony had rather more knobs on."
Amen to that. And to all of you getting hitched in California today, congratulations.
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