Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyDecember 14th, 2012
Oh what a funny funny state the world is in.
For example, over in the UK, marriage is on the table. And the Anglican Church was wrought up about the sanctity of penis and vagina or some such thing. And how dare, how very dare the government to hint that anything other than penis and vagina could be linked in holy hoohaw.
So the government came of with the perfect solution. They would protect the Anglican Churches with a lock, no a double, scratch that, the government would protect the Anglicans with a “quadruple lock”. They would say that while other churches could opt-in and offer marriage if they so wanted, Anglican churches can’t. Even if William and Kate’s little bundle of joy grows up to be a charming young man who trots off to St. Andrews and falls in love with the Earl of Pudding.
So now they are all in a dither. You see, they didn’t want restrictions on themselves so much. They really just wanted the government to tell the Quakers and Jews what not to do. (Scotsman)
Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan said that the move to outlaw gay marriage in the Church of England and Church in Wales came as a “total shock” when it was announced by equalities minister Maria Miller on Tuesday as part of a “quadruple lock” to protect them from legal challenge.
Dr Morgan said that his church did not want the protection, which has put it in an “enormously difficult position”.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Hyhybt
December 14th, 2012
But surely, when they later decide to perform weddings after all, parliament would be willing to change the law to allow them to do so?
Tor
December 14th, 2012
Whoever thought up this amendment is brilliant.
Ben in Oakland
December 14th, 2012
At first, I was pissed about this. Then I realized, it was absolutely brilliant.. The church by its own request has rendered itself irrelevant to the discussion.
Eric in Oakland
December 15th, 2012
“Dr Morgan said that his church did not want the protection, which has put it in an “enormously difficult positionâ€.
Hah. Of course they didn’t want the protection. What they wanted was to prevent gays from having access to church weddings, even if their ministers and churches wanted to perform them. However, they thought they would be clever and ask for something that sounded less bigotted. Homophobes in the U.S. would be similarly nonplussed should the government limit marriage to fertile couples.
Marcus
December 15th, 2012
With so much coverage of the homophobia and sexism of the Catholic and Mormon churches, it’s surprising that the Anglican church’s regressive views don’t receive more air time. (And unlike the Catholic and Mormon churches, it holds the reins of government in England.) Thanks for bringing its hypocrisy into the open, Timothy.
Hunter
December 15th, 2012
“Dr Morgan said that his church did not want the protection, which has put it in an “enormously difficult positionâ€.”
Not really, Dr. Morgan — the church has put itself in an enormously difficult position.
Ryan
December 15th, 2012
It looks like one Archbishop, specifically a *Welsh* Anglican. Have the Welsh Anglicans previously expressed an opinion against gay marriage? I can’t imagine any Anglicans against gay marriage would oppose this law. Maybe either this particular Archbishop, or perhaps Welsh Anglicans in general support marriage equality. Maybe we shouldn’t be mocking him.
Hunter
December 15th, 2012
@ Ryan: Apparently the Archbishop of Wales is in a minority — there doesn’t seem to have been any strong support for marriage or religious civil unions in the Anglican Church as a whole, including the Church in Wales, and quite a bit of opposition. I suspect Morgan got caught in the crossfire in a political tussle between the Church and the government. Since the English hierarchy was also taken by surprise, I suspect it was a move by the Cameron government to make them look bad by giving them what they wanted (and then some) and forcing them to backpedal.
From what I can gather, the CofE has been a huge pain the neck for Cameron on SSM. I didn’t think he was evil enough to stick it to them like this, but he did. If the Church changes its position in the future (which some clergy are already suggesting will happen), they’re going to have to come to the government to allow it.
Payback’s a bitch.
jerry
December 15th, 2012
It really is funny when someone shoves his head up his ass and then squirms.
Timothy (TRiG)
December 15th, 2012
The Anglicans have the very conservative church in Africa, the Episcopalians in America, who are quite liberal, and are confused at home in the UK. They’re the established church in England (CofE) and Wales (CiW), but not in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
And apparently the Church in Wales wasn’t even consulted about this law.
Probably the church wanted some sort of legal block on marriage equality partly to hold themselves together, to help paper over the cracks between the conservative and liberal wings. Being a state church has it’s pluses: it’s easier to put pressure on the government; and also its minuses: it’s possible for the government to legislate specifically about your practices.
I think Ben’s on the money:
TRiG.
Ben in Oakland
December 15th, 2012
Hunter,I don’t think Mr. Cameron was being evil in this, I think he was being very practical, very much like Obama was when he evolved on marriage equality, far enough ahead to get the gay vote and money AND to take the issue effectively off the table.
In this case, I believe that he thinks marriage equality is the right thingsto do. I suspect he doesn’t want any church interference in what ought to be both a strictly secular and a religious freedom matter. I also suspect that he has some other plans that might get the holy knickers in a twist.
This is both good politics and practical.
Erp
December 15th, 2012
Only the Church of England is still established (the Church in Wales was disestablished some 90 years or so ago).
By English law the CoE is required to marry parishioners who can legally marry with a few exceptions (divorced people being the big one), even parishioners who aren’t Christian. This means any new law on marriage would have to take this into account. I don’t know whether the Church in Wales has this requirement post-establishment; it can still marry people by banns or license from the bishop (I believe all other ceremonies religious or not have to get paperwork from the registry office).
Church of England Canon law is state law which means if the the CoE decides to change the canon on marriage to allow same-sex marriage it must get Parliament to approve it even without this proposed law (the only thing added is that Parliament at the same time would have to modify its own law and lift the ban). The canons of the Church in Wales don’t require Parliament approval so they are in a different and worst situation.
The second lock may be more problematic as it presupposes in a religious denomination a hierarchical governance with a minister in control of a premise. It does not seem to allow a governance where individual congregations have ultimate power even if organized in larger groupings. For example if a baptist congregation decides it has no problem with SSM it won’t be able to perform them legally without leaving the larger group (in the US in states where SSM is allowed the congregation could do so and the convention would then have to accept, ignore, or kick out the offending congregation). I could be wrong.
Hunter
December 16th, 2012
TRiG: Actually, the Church in Wales was disestablished in the 1920s — it’s autonomous, like the Episcopalians in the US.
Ben in Oakland: I meant “evil” in the sense of ruthless. And I agree with you completely, which was the thrust of my comment — it’s a political showdown, of a sort, between the Church and the Government. At least, that’s my reading.
Hunter
December 16th, 2012
Erp: I’m not really up on formal governance in the Baptist church, although in theory I believe you’re correct — individual congregations are independent. In practical terms, if a Southern Baptist congregation decided to allow SSM, they would likely be kicked out of the convention — that’s already happened to congregations that decided to allow openly gay members. There is another convention (American Baptist?) that seems to be a bit more liberal.
What seems to have happened over the past couple of decades is that the Southern Baptist convention has gotten more centralized, which I find rather ironic, since a central principle has always been the autonomy of congregations.
Ben In Oakland
December 16th, 2012
Funny thing in this morning’s paper. Apparently, the Bishop of Leicester said that this action of the government implied that the church was antigay.
Now ehre could we have gottren that idea?
Leave A Comment