The Church Being...Civil

My best friend is a gay and since she’s come out I’ve seen firsthand the amount of prejudice she has to face near enough every single day when out in public. The dirty looks from people of all ages when she’s out shopping with her girlfriend and the disapproving tuts directed at them when they’re holding hands suggests to me that gay people aren’t as accepted in today’s society as many of us like to think.

So when I heard that the ban on performing civil partnerships in religious places would be lifted as of next month, I was shocked to say the least. This isn’t because I’m not in favour of the ruling, if it was up to me then same-sex couples would be able to conduct a ‘proper’ marriage, adopt and even become priests if they wanted to. It was because, finally, people are beginning to stand up to the Church.

It often seems to me that people are petrified of challenging those in charge of the Church; they don’t want to offend anyone seen closer to God than they are just in case it hinders their chances of reaching those golden gates. Take the fight for women to become bishops as an example; shouldn’t this have happened years ago?

Thankfully not all Christians that believe homosexuality is ‘wrong’ but why are many still happy to offend same-sex couples by denying them the right to have their civil service where they want to. It’s holding back on society’s quest for equality amongst everybody.

The new scheme will be voluntary, giving organisations such as the Church of England the choice to bless same-sex couples. This has, unsurprisingly, caused uproar in some religious communities who believe that this is going against the word of God. But it is only some that are disagreeing surely meaning that the others choose to accept that being openly gay should no longer be seen as taboo. I’d like to think that these organisations realise that people need to relate to religion, and not feel outcast by them. It’s going to reflect well on those who take up the choice to marry two men or women. It will show that the Church is finally taking into account our modern society and the views of the majority of the public. 

If a person decides to live their life by God then they should absolutely be able to legalise their partnership no matter what their sexual orientation is. After all, “God shows personal favouritism to no man” (Galatians 2:6) so why contradict this and stick to blessing only those that are straight?

I am, if you hadn’t already guessed, an atheist and I would want somebody to respect my own beliefs just as much I would a person who had devoted their life to the man in the sky. But gone are the days where we isolate by gender and race so why should homosexuality be any different?

Not so long ago people would have laughed at the idea of banishing slavery so, fingers crossed, in a few more years, people will laugh at the memory of people not being able to marry where they want to.

People need to accept that in today’s world it is no longer just ‘Adam and Eve’ but it’s ‘Adam and Elliot’ now too.