Arrogant Synod scorns the value of marriage
by Julian Mann, TCW:
I WOULD like to think that I am realistic about the low level of Christianity at the Church of England’s General Synod. But even I was shocked at the arrogance with which members voted down an amendment at the February meeting in Westminster to ‘reaffirm the value of marriage, especially when loving, as providing the most stable and permanent environment for bringing up children’.
The amendment was moved by Dr Julie Maxwell, a lay member for Winchester Diocese, during the debate last Sunday on the Love Matters report by the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Children.
Dr Maxwell said: ‘As a community paediatrician for 22 years, I support children with developmental, behavioural and mental health difficulties. In many of these cases, family breakdown or instability is a contributing factor. The need to improve the health of our children has never been such a priority and supporting and stabilising families is one very important factor. A report published in November by NHS England found that 20.3 per cent of eight- to-16-year-olds had a probable mental disorder in 2023.’
Dr Maxwell wanted the statement in the report that ‘marriage is still viewed by many as a positive option, especially if there are children’ beefed up by the Christian concept of marriage as a commitment that transcends subjective feelings of love and happiness.
She concluded: ‘I remember once talking to some single mothers and they didn’t want their children to feel stigmatised but equally they did not want their children to experience what they had and they wanted them to go on to have successful marriages. Parenting is hard for all of us, especially for those doing it alone or in other difficult circumstances. We need to consider carefully how we can practically show compassion and support for all families whatever their situation whilst acknowledging the role that the commitment of marriage plays. In particular, we need to think about the next generation who deserve to understand the value and importance of marriage for their futures.’
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