Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Civil partnership ceremonies in church buildings

I note some discussion of the differing policies of the churches in this regard. The Church of England and the Catholic church have both ruled it out, although not officially: see the Guardian, Feb 13th and the BBC; a position welcomed by both the moderate evangelical Anglican site Fulcrum and the Christian Institute. (See also a joint conservative statement by the Christian Institute and others at the Anglican Mainstream site). Reports suggest that the denominations open to the possibility include the Quakers and the Unitarian church. It remains to be seen what happens when the legislation comes forward, but it is an indication of how far the ground has shifted that this is a mostly defensive movement; nothing to do with the right of a secular state to do as it sees fit, but simply to defend against any compulsion of religious groups to comply.

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