Church of England still barred from performing gay marriages

You’d figure England would have legalized same-sex marriage a lot earlier than they actually, wouldn’t you? I mean, they gave us Ab Fab, both Boy George and George Michael (coincidence? NO.) and they’re the home of the first ever school of witchcraft and wizardry run by an openly gay man.

Although England took a huge step forward a couple days ago by legalizing same-sex marriage, Canada.com reports that The Church of England, the officially established Christian church of the country, has barred any of their members to perform gay marriages.

The law enables gay couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies in England and Wales, provided that the religious institution consents. The Church of England, the country’s official faith, is barred from performing such ceremonies.

In case you’re wondering, this is what it says on the COE’s actual website:

The Church of England is committed to the traditional understanding of the institution of marriage as being between one man and one woman. The Church of England supports the way civil partnerships offer same-sex couples equal rights and responsibilities to married heterosexual couples. Opening marriage to same-sex couples would confer few if any new legal rights on the part of those already in a civil partnership, yet would require multiple changes to law, with the definition of marriage having to change for everyone.

Odd; wasn’t the Church of England created so that King Henry VIII could get a divorce? You didn’t just change the definition of marriage, you found a way to legally dissolve it. We can’t all sentence our ex-wives to death for failing to give us male heirs, okay COE? It’s not as easy as it sounds.

Aside from the obvious and ironic part I listed above, here’s the major fallacy of anyone blaming homophobia on their religion: Have you ever seen a Christian who supports same-sex marriage? Or a Jewish person? Bhuddist, Muslim, literally any religion you can think of, there are going to be people of that faith who believe in same-sex marriage. Are they any less a person of faith for believing that?

If supporting same-sex marriage doesn’t make you less of a devoted and faithful person, then we’d have to conclude that opposing same-sex marriage is not an integral component of any faith. And so, we pray . . .