Gay marriage - will divide & rule destroy the family?

[TonyGosling]

In a church context...
Homosexual acts are sinful - end of story - lust is a sin - read the sermon on the mount - sex must only take place within a loving marriage - end of story - actually it's not that difficult a rule to keep to.
Actually it's not always easy - but if both sides of the couple follow Christ it's a lot easier

[TonyGosling]

Gay marriage: the French connection
The issue provoking the biggest Tory rebellion in decades was also prompting a similar row in the French National Assembly. Why?
The 47 members of the Council of Europe during the Council of Europe Conference in Brighton last year. In 2010, ministers from the countries agreed on “measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity” Photo: PA

By Christopher Booker

7:00PM GMT 09 Feb 2013

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/985903 6/Gay-marriage-the-French-connection.html

The greatest puzzle about the “gay marriage” furore is why this issue suddenly erupted from nowhere to the top of the political agenda. Why has David Cameron been willing, as one commentator put it, to “trash his party” in pushing so hard for something that, before the last election, he refused to endorse or to include in the Tory manifesto? And why, just as it was provoking the biggest Tory rebellion in decades, was it also prompting a similar row in the French National Assembly?

The real story behind this drama goes back to 2010. It has three main players, the Home Secretary Theresa May, our former Lib Dem equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone, and that shadowy institution, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, with its controversial adjunct, the European Court of Human Rights.

In March 2010, ministers from the 47 countries represented in the Council of Europe agreed a “Recommendation” on “measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity”. Section IV focused on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, guaranteeing “respect for family life”. It proposed that where national legislation recognised same-sex partnerships, these should be given the same legal status as those between heterosexuals. There was no mention of marriage as yet, except in a proposal that “transgender persons” should be entitled to “marry a person of the sex opposite to their reassigned sex”.

Four days before the 2010 general election, the Tory party issued a pamphlet, signed by Theresa May, in which a section on “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender [LGBT] issues” promised that the party would “consider the case for changing the law to allow civil partnerships to be called and classified as marriage”. But this was not in the manifesto, nor, after the election, in the Coalition Agreement.

In June that year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that, though there was no obligation on countries to recognise same-sex partnerships, Article 8 did not specify that the right to enjoy family life applied only to couples of different sexes, it could be taken as equally applying to same-sex couples. The court proposed that, when a “consensus” emerged among the member states, this could allow the right to same-sex marriages to be recognised under the convention.

Shortly afterwards, Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister, set out new guidelines allowing “religious music” to be used in civil partnership ceremonies. She suggested that this should be regarded as a step towards allowing gay marriages. In September, the Lib Dem party conference backed her call for same-sex marriages to be legalised.

In December a campaign group, Equal Love, helped a group of British same-sex couples to launch an action in the ECHR asking for civil partnerships to be given full marriage status. They were supported by Peter Tatchell, who told the BBC that banning gay people from marriage sent “a signal that we are regarded as socially and legally inferior”.

The campaign – with much conferring behind the scenes between ministers and gay lobby groups – was under way. In March 2011, May and Featherstone issued an official policy document, “Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality: Moving Forward”. It committed the Government to work “with all those who have an interest in equal civil marriage” on how “legislation can develop”. Furthermore, it committed the Foreign Office and the new Gender Equality Office to work for “full implementation” of the Council of Europe’s 2010 Recommendation, with a target date of June 2013.

In November 2011, when Britain took over the six-monthly chairmanship of the Council of Europe, it put this at the top of the agenda. (Featherstone had already committed £100,000 of government money to creating an LGBT unit in Strasbourg to plan implementation of the policy). Britain was so keen to take the lead that, on March 27 last year, the UK’s representation in Strasbourg organised the council’s first “closed conference” (ie, public not admitted), to agree detailed plans for the June 2013 implementation, with a keynote address from Featherstone. A speech by the British judge, Sir Nicolas Bratza, then head of the European Court of Human Rights, signalled that the court was ready to declare same-sex marriage a “human right”, as soon as enough countries fell into line.

Such are the real reasons that our Government needed to rush through last week’s vote on gay marriage. We are committed to “full implementation” of the Council of Europe’s policy no later than this June (and hence the similar law now being rushed through in France). It has been a brilliant political coup by the gay lobby, aided by Featherstone, May and those shadowy European bodies that, in so many ways, now rule our lives. But why weren’t we told more honestly and openly why it has all happened?

[fish5133]

What i tend to find more distasteful than homosexual marriage is the adoption of a little boy by Elton John and his partner . I just wonder at the adoption agencies views in depriving the little boy of a "mum". I just cant see how its in the best interest of the child. With Elton being 65 years old of age the poor kid is going to not only suffer the confusing situation of being brought up in a homosexual lifestyle but is probably going to have to suffer bereavement at an earlier age.

[TonyGosling]

'Recognizing same-sex unions brings us closer to apocalypse' - Head of Russian Orthodox Church
Edited time: July 22, 2013 13:20

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill.(RIA Novosti / Sergey Pyatakov)
http://rt.com/news/church-same-sex-unions-404/

The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill sees the recognition of same-sex unions by Western countries as a portent of doom. He called upon Russians to ensure that sin is never formalized by the rule of law.

"We face enormous temptations when countries start approving sin and codifying it into law in order to justify it,” Itar-Tass quoted the patriarch as saying after the Sunday service in the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square.

Those who follow their conscience and “fight such laws imposed by the minority are subjected to repressions,” he added.

Kirill urged Russians to ensure that sin is never formalized in the rule of law.

“This is a very dangerous apocalyptic symptom, and we must do everything in our powers to ensure that sin is never sanctioned in Russia by state law, because that would mean that the nation has embarked on a path of self-destruction,” Kirill stated.


AFP Photo / Boris Horvat

The patriarch pointed out that people have been convinced that the only value is the freedom of choice and no one has the right to infringe on that “even when a person chooses evil or a socially dangerous behavior.”

The Patriarch called upon Russians to fight for freedom from sins. “Where sin is elected through freedom, there comes death, terror and dictatorship,” Kirill said.

He asked people to pray for the future of the country to prevent “the slavery of sin” that leads to the “self-destruction of the nation”.

Patriarch Kirill led a church service in Moscow on Sunday that honored the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan, one of the most revered relics in Russia. The liturgy took place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan on Red Square, which has a copy of the revered icon.

The topic of same-sex unions has been heatedly debated in Russia. On June 30 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a controversial law strengthening the penalties for “propagating homosexuality among minors”.

The so-called ‘gay propaganda’ introduces fines for propaganda of non-traditional sex relationships to minors, including in the media, on the internet and via viral adverts.


Participants in gay activists' rally protesting against the law prohibiting gay agenda at the Oktyabrsky concert hall in St Petersburg.(RIA Novosti / Alexei Danichev)

Under the controversial law, holding LGBT rallies is now prohibited, as well as the distribution of information aimed at informing children of non-traditional sexual concepts. The bill also prohibits the “obtrusive spreading of information about non-traditional sexual relationships that may arouse interest in such relationships.”

Gay rights activists in Russia and abroad deemed the bill “anti-gay”. In a statement on GayRussia.eu, a Russian gay-rights activist wrote that Putin violated Russia’s international obligations by signing the law.

Earlier this year, in April, Vladimir Putin faced hundreds of protesters ranging from gay rights activists to a topless feminist group during his visit to Germany and the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, over a thousand gay rights activists picketed outside his meeting with Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

However, according to a recent poll conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Center (VTSIOM) in June, 88 per cent of Russians supported the amendments to the law; only 7 per cent said they are against. 54 per cent staid that homosexuality should be banned and be criminalized.

[TonyGosling]

Christian preacher arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin
A Christian street preacher was arrested and locked in a cell for telling a passer-by that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God.
Christian preacher arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin
Mr McAlpine was handing out leaflets explaining the Ten Commandments or offering a 'ticket to heaven' with a church colleague on April 20, when a woman came up and engaged him in a debate about his faith
By Heidi Blake 1:05PM BST 02 May 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/7668448/Christian-preacher-ar rested-for-saying-homosexuality-is-a-sin.html
Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships.
The 42-year-old Baptist, who has preached Christianity in Workington, Cumbria for years, said he did not mention homosexuality while delivering a sermon from the top of a stepladder, but admitted telling a passing shopper that he believed it went against the word of God.
Police officers are alleging that he made the remark in a voice loud enough to be overheard by others and have charged him with using abusive or insulting language, contrary to the Public Order Act.
Mr McAlpine, who was taken to the police station in the back of a marked van and locked in a cell for seven hours on April 20, said the incident was among the worst experiences of his life.
“I felt deeply shocked and humiliated that I had been arrested in my own town and treated like a common criminal in front of people I know," he said.
“My freedom was taken away on the hearsay of someone who disliked what I said, and I was charged under a law that doesn't apply.”
Christian campaigners have expressed alarm that the Public Order Act, introduced in 1986 to tackle violent rioters and football hooligans, is being used to curb religious free speech.
Sam Webster, a solicitor-advocate for the Christian Institute, which is supporting Mr McAlpine, said it is not a crime to express the belief that homosexual conduct is a sin.
“The police have a duty to maintain public order but they also have a duty to defend the lawful free speech of citizens,” he said.
“Case law has ruled that the orthodox Christian belief that homosexual conduct is sinful is a belief worthy of respect in a democratic society."
Mr McAlpine was handing out leaflets explaining the Ten Commandments or offering a “ticket to heaven” with a church colleague on April 20, when a woman came up and engaged him in a debate about his faith.
During the exchange, he says he quietly listed homosexuality among a number of sins referred to in 1 Corinthians, including blasphemy, fornication, adultery and drunkenness.
After the woman walked away, she was approached by a PCSO who spoke with her briefly and then walked over to Mr McAlpine and told him a complaint had been made, and that he could be arrested for using racist or homophobic language.
The street preacher said he told the PCSO: “I am not homophobic but sometimes I do say that the Bible says homosexuality is a crime against the Creator”.
He claims that the PCSO then said he was homosexual and identified himself as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender liaison officer for Cumbria police. Mr McAlpine replied: “It’s still a sin.”
The preacher then began a 20 minute sermon, in which he says he mentioned drunkenness and adultery, but not homosexuality. Three regular uniformed police officers arrived during the address, arrested Mr McAlpine and put him in the back of a police van.
At the station, he was told to empty his pockets and his mobile telephone, belt and shoes were confiscated. Police took fingerprints, a palm print, a retina scan and a DNA swab.
He was later interviewed, charged under Sections 5 (1) and (6) of the Public Order Act and released on bail on the condition that he did not preach in public.
Mr McAlpine pleaded not guilty at a preliminary hearing on Friday at Workington magistrates court and is now awaiting a trial date.
The Public Order Act, which outlaws the unreasonable use of abusive language likely to cause distress, has been used to arrest religious people in a number of similar cases.
Harry Hammond, a pensioner, was convicted under Section 5 of the Act in 2002 for holding up a sign saying “Stop immorality. Stop Homosexuality. Stop Lesbianism. Jesus is Lord” while preaching in Bournemouth.
Stephen Green, a Christian campaigner, was arrested and charged in 2006 for handing out religious leaflets at a Gay Pride festival in Cardiff. The case against him was later dropped.
Cumbria police said last night that no one was available to comment on Mr McAlpine’s case.