Ian Le Marquand has recently raised a number
of important questions about same-sex marriages, and in particular, what effect
that would have on the Church of England in Jersey. While I think the Senator is
right to raise these issues, his presentation of them seems to ignore the fact
that they were both raised and dealt with by the framing of the Marriage (Same
Sex Couples) Act 2013.
In fact, most of what he appears to be asking
for consultation and answers about seems to have been dealt with during the
process of implementing the English marriage laws and I can see no reason why
the same restrictions and safeguards should not apply in Jersey.
For a licensed reader in the Church of
England, he seems to have read very little on this matter, as he does not seem
to show any awareness of the copious information available to him, and which I
have put further down this posting. He seems to have ignored the fact that the
Church of England in the UK is just as bound up with the State as an established
church regarding marriage, and that these issues were dealt with in the relevant
laws. It is absurd to present matters as if these had not already been the
subject of discussion and legislative safeguards which any Jersey legislation
can adopt as a model.
In short, he presents a series of red
herrings, which would make sense if we were dealing with a “tabular rasa”, a
blank slate, on these matters. But because England has dealt with these matters,
it is clear that Jersey can do so just as easily. We have no need to re-invent
the wheel.
I cite below links, and extracts from those
links, which are particularly pertinent to the matter of the Church of England
as an established church.
Other matters regarding education, for
example, have also been raised and discussed – I add a very short link here to
show the matters that were raised for consideration. I leave the reader to
search out those discussions.
Because the Canon Law of the Church of England
is also part of the public law of the land and cannot be in conflict with
statute law, it is important that any legislation for same-sex marriage makes it
clear that it does not apply to marriage according to the rites of the Church of
England. The legislative drafting of what is needed for the Church of England is
necessarily unique because of that; and because Church of England clergy
normally have a legal duty to marry people by virtue of their office.
The Government, in accepting that the legal
effect of the Canons of the Church of England need to be preserved (in line with
its assertions about protection of religious liberty), have committed to
drafting legislation on same sex marriage accordingly.
Any change to the Church of England's doctrine
and practice of marriage would require legislation by the Church's General
Synod. In addition to an Amending Canon that redefined the nature of marriage
such a legislative package would also involve the General Synod passing a
Measure (the General Synod's equivalent of an Act of Parliament) that altered
both the statute law concerning marriage according to the rites Church of
England and the marriage service in the Book of Common Prayer.
http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2014/02/house-of-bishops-pastoral-guidance-on-same-sex-marriage.aspx
The effect of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples)
Act 2013
The effect of the legislation is that in most
respects there will no longer be any distinction between marriage involving same
sex couples and couples of opposite genders. The legislation makes religious as
well as civil same sex weddings possible, though only where the relevant
denomination or faith has opted in to conducting such weddings. In addition, the
legislation provides that no person may be compelled to conduct or be present at
such a wedding.
The Act provides no opt in mechanism for the
Church of England because of the constitutional convention that the power of
initiative on legislation affecting the Church of England rests with the General
Synod, which has the power to pass Measures and Canons. The Act preserves, as
part of the law of England, the effect of any Canon which makes provision about
marriage being the union of one man with one woman, notwithstanding the general,
gender free definition of marriage. As a result Canon B30 remains part of the
law of the land.
When the Act comes into force in March it will
continue not to be legally possible for two persons of the same sex to marry
according to the rites of the Church of England. In addition the Act makes clear
that any rights and duties which currently exist in relation to being married in
Church of England churches do not extend to same sex couples.
In her statement to the House of Commons on
11th December on the Government's proposals for Equal Marriage, the Secretary of
State said:
"Because the Church of England and Wales have
explicitly stated that they do not wish to conduct same-sex marriages the
legislation will explicitly state that it would be illegal for the Churches of
England and Wales to marry same-sex couples. Mr Speaker, this provision
recognises and protects the unique and Established nature of these churches. The
church's canon law will also continue to ban the marriage of same-sex couples.
Therefore, even if these institutions wanted to conduct same sex marriage, it
would require a change to primary legislation at a later date and a change to
canon law. Additional protection that cannot be breached."
The law prohibits the Church of England from
performing same-sex weddings.
The Archbishop of York raised questions about
whether the definition of all marriages must change in order to accommodate the
desire of same-sex couples to marry
The Bishops of Ripon and Leeds and Leicester
sought assurances that schools of a religious character, including Church of
England schools, would have legal clarity about the teaching of marriage
according to the tenets of the faith.
The Bishop of Leicester also argued for
measures to support freedom of speech for those who continue to hold and express
a belief about traditional marriage.
The Bishop of Guildford raised questions and
concerns about the place of fidelity and the position of children in relation to
parents in same-sex marriages
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1 comment:
I listened to Le Marquand and Mezec on the radio this morning and this sounded like one final, desperate throw of the dice from an C of E mouthpiece. I particularly liked the bit when ILM said he hoped that the church schools would not be contradicting biblical teachings. Without pause, Mezec replied "Well they do teach Darwinism"
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