Here’s what I said on Sunday.
I ask you. Which sounds more fun – the fleshpots of Egypt or wandering aimlessly in the desert?
It is not hard to have some sympathy with the children of Israel. Moses and Aaron have led them away from a life which was unfair though one which was mundane and familiar. And they have led them – not to the promised land – not yet anyway, but to the desert.
The wilderness. The desert. The place where there is emptiness. (more…)
I think the issue is that the SNP Government is going to authorise religious same sex marriages as well as civil ones.
It would be an obvious compromise to allow civil weddings but not religious ones – that seems to be the route the UK Govt will go down.
It would be tempting for the SG to do the same. It’s a neat solution – that way they could say there is no question of religious denominations being forced to perform same sex marriages. It will only be civil ceremonies.
And, let’s face it, although there are some religious denominationa which support same sex marriage – Unitarians, Quakers, Liberal Jews, Pagan Federation etc – how many Unitarians, Quakers, Liberal Jews, Pagans etc are actually out there? They are very much outnumbered by the Catholics, Muslims and fundamentalist Protestants aren’t they?
But for some reason the SG has decided to go for the option which allows religious as well as civil same sex marriages. We can only assume that, for them, that is actually an issue of principle, of support for religious freedom.
But it makes it more complicated doesn’t it? Because they have to find a way to protect the rights of religious denominations which wish to conduct same sex marriages while also protecting the rights of religious denominations who do not want to conduct same sex marriages. And do that in the context of legislation which protects religious rights, freedom of speech and equality which is not within their control.
Putting aside any issues of substance here, I’m not sure you’re being quite accurate in your interpretation of John Haldane’s Newsnicht appearance. He was careful to distinguish between civil partnerships and same sex marriage, saying that the latter had to be discussed within an understanding of the ‘common good’ (a discussion which the programme didn’t have time to allow). I’d be amazed if he’s changed his opposition to same sex marriage (expressed quite regularly in the media eg in the Beyond Belief programme here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b019rlng/Beyond_Belief_Same_Sex_Marriage/).
As to whether Haldane was criticizing the Cardinal -I suspect any interpretation along these lines would require quite a degree of cynicism (or wishful thinking!) given his previously highly supportive attitude (eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6707465.stm).
I met him when Ruth and I did the Big Questions earlier this year. Apparently, Haldane is an advisor to Pope Benedict….
There may not be many Unitarians, Quakers, Reform Jews in Scotland but there are a lot of Humanist weddings (I believe in Scotland in 2010 the number of weddings by Humanist celebrants exceeded the number of Catholic weddings) so they are the biggest group performing legally recognized opposite-sex marriages who would like to perform legally recognized same-sex marriages (as opposed to a ceremony after a same-sex marriage has been registered at the registry office).
As is common, I received a mailing from a charity this morning asking for me to get the congregation to send money. This is not unusual – I bin many such mailings every week. This one had taken the trouble to include a stamped addressed envelope, which is thoughtful though it will make me no…
One of the committees I work with decided last night to try to experiment with electronic working alongside its traditional round-the-table kind of meetings. If it works, it should mean fewer nights out at meetings, freeing up the people involved to get on with the task in hand. Those of us who belong to groups…
Today, I will be having my first Christmas lunch. This is with other members of the University chaplaincy team and their spouses.I shall go with plenty of festive spirit and enjoy every moment. I shall. I shall.
I committed my annual musical sin last night by being rude about the music book Carols for Choirs in front of the St Saviour's Choir. I know that they don't understand this heresy.Carols for Choirs is part of the King's College, Cambridge Christmas hegemony. Choirs think that it is not Christmas unless they make an…
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