What should we make of the Church in Wales’ gay marriage blessings?
by Gavin Ashenden, Christian Today:
When the Church in Wales authorised the blessing of homosexual civil partnerships and marriages, it did so because it had arrived at a crossroads, and after hesitating took one turning rather than another. It made its choice by repudiating the past and putting its faith in the wisdom of our contemporary, very recent and secular culture.
The whole Christian church stands at these crossroads. Some have taken the same turning, and others are hesitating. But it is surprisingly difficult to describe what the issues are and what the consequences may be of the choices.
There are at least three reasons for this. The first is the very powerful current of secular culture; the second is the obscurity of language where words have multiple meanings; and the third is confusion over what the spiritual significance of sex and sexual acts are.
The current of culture has strengthened and become more uncompromising. That in itself is odd, because the secular understanding of homosexuality and the meaning of marriage are not as clear as campaigning organisations want us to believe.
Gore Vidal, the American literary critic and gay activist might be credited for having invented the term ‘gay’ when he was an influential writer and thinker in the US in the second half of the twentieth century. He did it to protect his homosexual friends whom he thought would be protected by and benefit from a new image.
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