The Equality Bill

The clergymen getting all hot under the collar over the fantastic events in the House of Lords yesterday should loosen up.

The amendment to the Equality Bill, which would enable gay couples to celebrate their partnership in a consenting religious place of worship, is a permissive piece of legislation. It will allow Churches and other religious groups the liberty to choose. The progress will be welcomed by the Quakers, the Liberal Jews and the Unitarians whose organisations already bless civil partnerships and want the freedom to be able to bless them in their places of worship. It’s a question of religious freedom, not enforcement, and there are still many legal issues to be addressed if the amendment forms part of the final Bill.

So, reading the front page of the Telegraph today that “clergymen could be sued if they refuse to carry out homosexual marriages in church” one wonders how the common good in this world might be furthered if traditionalists stopped knee jerking and started thinking.