Monday 10 December 2012

Response of Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth to David Cameron on same-sex "marriage".

9th December 2012

David Cameron has said that he is an enthusiastic supporter of marriage and that he does not want "gay people to be excluded from a great institution." Yet however well-intentioned, and despite huge opposition from Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, by attempting to change the natural meaning of marriage, he seems utterly determined to undermine one of the key foundations of our society.

Such a change is of immense significance. By this change, he is luring the people of England away from their common Christian values and Christian patrimony, and forcing upon us a brave new world, artificially engineered.

To "extend marriage to gay people", he intends to impose the will of a tiny minority on the vast majority. If the prime minister proceeds with his intentions, he will pervert authentic family values, with catastrophic consequences for the well-being and behaviour of future generations. He will smother the traditional Christian ethos of our society and strangle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church in Britain to conduct its mission.

Of course, we will need to wait for the results of the current consultation-exercise. But in the meantime, I would like to ask Mr. Cameron: What about my rights as a Christian? Will you exempt the Church, its resources and property, from having to support your harmful ideology? Will Catholic schools, societies and institutions be free (and legally safeguarded) to teach the full truth of Christ and the real meaning of life and love?

The institution of marriage has its ups and downs, but will we ever forget that it was the leader of the Conservative Party who finally destroyed marriage as a lasting, loving and life-giving union between a man and a woman?


3 comments:

Deacon Augustine said...

No, good Bishop - we will not forget. History will define this moment as the demise of the Conservative Party in UK politics and Cameron will enter its annals alongside Nero, Caligula and other such similar proponents of this vice.

Anonymous said...

To Deacon Augustine.At least Mr Cameron offered a free vote to his Party, others did not.

Deacon Augustine said...

Yes, Anonymous, he did. Do you think he would have left the "defining legislation" of his Premiership open to the uncertainty of a free vote if he didn't believe he would get it through with opposition support anyway?

The free vote red herring is merely a ploy to limit the damage done to the parliamentary party. Only naivety would make anybody think it was because of a commitment to democracy.

Clegg and Miliband are just as implicated in this abomination, but neither of them declared that they wanted their premiership to be defined by it, or indeed, had the power to bring the legislation before parliament.