Same-sex marriage: a letter from a Member of Parliament.

The following letter was received from the House of Commons this morning from David Davies, our local M.P. - he sums up rather well those issues which concern many of us:

Dear Father Michael, 

As you are aware, the government will shortly be voting on a Bill to legalise same-sex marriages in England and Wales. A number of churchgoers have contacted me to ask my views so I have decided to write to churches in Monmouthshire and very briefly set out my thoughts 

 Marriage has been recognized in cultural and religious terms as being the union between a man and a woman. This has been the case around the world for thousands of years. For a government to redefine marriage just a few months after the release of a consultation document, especially without a manifesto commitment, is rash to say the least.  

The government has promised it will build in safeguards to ensure churches are not forced to conduct gay marriages if they do not wish to. However, in my view there will be legal challenges which will probably  end up in the European Court and the government will have no say over the outcome. Nor will it defy the European Court of Human rights. Therefore churches have every right to be concerned.  

There will also be changes to the way in which sex education is taught in schools, although Ministers are unable to say what these changes will mean. I believe we should be told what they are before being asked to vote.  

Civil ceremonies give gay couples exactly the same legal rights as married couples. In my years in parliament not one single person has ever written to me asking for civil ceremonies to be replaced by gay marriages. I therefore believe there are no reasons to change the current situation, but many reasons to keep it as it is.  

I will therefore exercise my right to vote against the government’s proposals. Please feel free to share this with your congregation if you see fit.   

Yours sincerely,  

David  

David TC Davies MP 

 It is very reassuring to know that there are Members of Parliament who are prepared to vote according to their conscience and not simply fall into line in forcing through legislation which reflects only the somewhat shallow and ill thought-through fashions of the new metropolitan / metrosexual  political and cultural establishment. 
It's also a great relief that not everyone seems to accept the current consensus among the commentariat that Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election has changed the philosophical agenda for right of centre politicians who seek to be elected to office throughout the western world 

It remains to be seen, however, how Mr Davies' courageous stand in preparing to vote against his own government over this issue will be received by his local Anglican province, whose bishops  are clearly already engaged in the process of abandoning 'revising their presentation' of the Christian theology of sexuality.