Must read: Deception on freedom of religion key to SSM Yes case
“We are being put on notice. You would have to be politically blind to deny the reality (an option many politicians have deliberately chosen). The post-same-sex marriage battle is already under way. This is because while many people genuinely see same-sex marriage as an issue of non-discrimination, this was never its essence. It is an ideological cause seeking fundamental changes in Western society, laws and norms. It will continue apace after the law is changed.
Marriage equality is an ideology and ideologies, by nature, do not settle for compromise victories. As Benjamin Law says in Quarterly Essay: Moral Panic 101: “It might be stating the obvious but same-sex marriage is far from the final frontier in the battle against homophobia.” The struggle will continue — in schools and in institutions. Law says the two biggest LGBTI issues are Safe Schools and same-sex marriage. …
The pretence by Yes case politicians that the plebiscite has no consequences for the Safe Schools program treats us like fools. …”
– Paul Kelly, writing in The Australian (subscription) argues that freedom of religion will be one of the first casualties of same-sex marriage. Read it all.
Praying together this Sunday
“Archbishop Glenn Davies has urged churches to set aside this Sunday as a day of Praying together for Marriage.
The Archbishop foreshadowed the initiative in this month’s edition of the Diocesan magazine, Southern Cross, which includes a prayer Dr Davies wrote for the day.
The Australian newspaper last week reported the initiative, set down for this Sunday, September 17th. …”
– Read the story from SydneyAnglicans.net, and please be encouraged to pray.
Related: Archbishop Davies’ prayer.
Same-sex marriage is a test of Australian maturity that we may not pass
“It’s time not just to focus on who will win the marriage war, but how we are going to live with the peace.
For good or ill, the legislation of same-sex marriage in Australia became inevitable once Labor made it party policy. Irrespective of what happens with the postal plebiscite, Labor will achieve government at some stage.
There will be no peace until same-sex marriage is enacted in a way that can’t be undone. It will be on the day after the change — or rather, in the decades after — that Australia will face an important test of its maturity as a civil and civilised society. …
in my own Anglican tradition, simply reading the prayer book preface to the service of matrimony will become a politically controversial act. Here, for example, is the opening of the second order for marriage in An Australian Prayer Book: …”
– Robert Forsyth, retired Bishop of South Sydney, has had this opinion piece published by the ABC.
Tony Abbott on why same sex marriage would fundamentally change society
“We shouldn’t lightly change what’s been the foundation of our society for generations; and, if we do, it should only be after the most careful weighing of all the consequences. Yet if the polls are to be believed, we are about to discard the concept of marriage that has stood since time immemorial in favour of a new concept that would have been scornfully rejected even by gay people just a generation ago. …”
– Tony Abbott MP writes in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Same-sex-marriage postal survey without detail a ‘blank cheque’
“Malcolm Turnbull has been accused of handing a ‘blank cheque’ to the parliament after the government declared it would not move to provide religious protections before the same-sex-marriage survey is finalised.
Senior ministers yesterday confirmed that no bill outlining religious protections would be endorsed by the government until after the result was declared, arguing it would only be required should a Yes vote be returned.
The decision flies in the face of a warning from former prime minister John Howard, revealed in The Weekend Australian…”
– Story from The Australian. (Subscription.)
Related:
Andrew Hastie MP is interviewed on The Bolt Report, 11 September 2017.
‘Malcolm Turnbull urges Australians to say yes as thousands in Sydney rally’
“Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged Australians to say yes in the postal survey as thousands packed out Sydney’s CBD to rally for same-sex marriage. …
Mr Turnbull pointed to the fact that same-sex marriage had already been legislated for in 23 countries, including several with which Australia has close cultural affinities.
‘In any one of those nations, has the sky fallen in? Has life as we know it come to a halt? Has traditional marriage as we know it been undermined? The answer is no.’ …”
– Report from ABC News. Image: ABC News.
Since the Prime Minister raises the issues, see also:
John Anderson argues for a No vote:
“We need to be honest, and we have the right to ask the hard questions. The evidence here and abroad suggests that it would be naïve to think it’s simply about marriage…”
What’s changed in Britain since same-sex marriage?:
“I urge every Aussie to examine the evidence, analysis the results and be clear about what you’re voting for. If it was solely marriage, it would worth preserving. It’s infinitely more. …” –David Sargeant at Spectator Australia.
There’s never been a better time to be a Christian
“What a mess our poor nation is in. There is so much conflict, so much confusion, so much pain.
We have forgotten what a human being is. We have forgotten what male and female is. Men and women have forgotten how to have sex. We have forgotten how to marry. We have forgotten how to care for the children we bear. Children are taught that boys can be girls, and girls can be boys.
Our freedom to speak is dissolving before our eyes. Pastors are called before government tribunals for teaching the Bible. And Christian doctors who speak their mind are threatened with deregistration.
All this while marriage remains as yet un-redefined in our laws.
Moreover, the Opposition Leader has promised that if marriage laws change, Christian businesses will have no protections for acting according to their conscience.
If marriage is redefined there’ll be a relentless flood of de-registrations and prosecutions.
And so there has never been a better time to be a Christian!
There are two reasons why I believe this is true. …”
– Campbell Markham spoke at the Tasmanian launch of the Coalition for Marriage.
John Anderson argues for a No vote
“Former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson says, ‘We need to be honest, and we have the right to ask the hard questions. The evidence here and abroad suggests that it would be naïve to think it’s simply about marriage’.”
– An important video message from John Anderson – on Facebook.
John Howard kickstarts No SSM case
“John Howard has called for proposed same-sex marriage legislation, including full protections for parents, religion and free speech, to be produced before the postal survey vote closes in November, as he launches his support for the No campaign.
The former prime minister said yesterday it was disingenuous for the Yes campaign to argue that changing the law to include same-sex marriage did not affect other rights and that the survey involved a simple yes/no question. …”
– Dennis Shanahan writes in The Australian (Subscription.) Photo: ABC.
Assisted suicide opposed
“Anglicans in New South Wales and Victoria have been urged to contact their MPs to oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation.
The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia, which met in Queensland, passed a motion opposing the legalisation of ‘assisted dying’. …”
– Report from SydneyAnglicans.net.
Related:
Dr Megan Best’s Synod speech on the Euthanasia motion – from Sydney Synod 2010.
Albert Mohler’s The Briefing, 08 September 2017, from 9’40”.
What’s changed in Britain since same-sex marriage?
“Four years ago, amid much uncertainty, 400 British members of parliament voted to redefine marriage in the United Kingdom.
Then prime minister David Cameron announced that, despite having made no mention of the issue in his party’s pre-election manifesto, it would be MP’s who decided the fate of marriage.
Now, it’s Australia’s turn to choose. There’s one key difference. Unlike in Britain, it will be the people who decide.
Everyone agrees, whether they admit it or not. This is a decision of enormous significance. …
In retrospect, the silent majority in Britain remained silent for too long.”
– This is an important article from Spectator Australia and many would benefit from reading it.
High Court rules on Plebiscite
“The Coalition for Marriage welcomed today’s decision by the High Court to allow the voice of the Australian people to be heard through the same-sex marriage postal vote.
‘We reiterate our support for a people’s vote as the most appropriate way to allow Australians to have their say on proposed changes to the definition of marriage,’ said the Most Reverend Dr Glenn Davies, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney. ‘Australians deserve to have a say on a change to the foundational unit of our society.‘…”
– from The Coalition for Marriage.
General Synod news – 7 September 2017
Stories from SydneyAnglicans.net –
Domestic violence ‘first priority’
“The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia has condemned domestic and family violence in all its forms, saying churches are committed to being safe places for all people, especially children and vulnerable adults.
In a motion moved by Melbourne’s Bishop Stephen Hale and seconded by Sydney’s Archdeacon Kara Hartley, Synod described domestic violence as sin, saying Scripture should never be twisted to justify or excuse any abuse. …”
Scots ‘impair’ communion with Australia
“The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia has acknowledged that relationship with the Scottish Episcopal Church has been impaired by the SEC removing gender from its marriage canon.
In June, the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church voted in favour of altering the church’s Canon on Marriage to remove the definition that marriage is between a man and a woman allow same-sex couples to marry in church.…”
On the vote concerning the Scottish Episcopal Church:
Read Dean Raffel’s speech (PDF file):
“Across the Anglican communion churches are trying to work out how best to love people of diverse sexual orientation.
This is important because all people are made in God’s image; and God hates nothing that he has made.
It is important because all people are to be valued honoured and loved not only because they are created in God’s image but because of Christ’s costly redeeming love for them.
It is important because Christians have often failed to love same sex attracted people, making it difficult or impossible for them to hear and experience the welcome and power of Jesus in their lives.
And it is important because same sex attracted people are our friends, our family members, our colleagues, members of our churches, and we might assume, members of this Synod. …”
Bishop Richard Condie’s speech (via David Ould).
“We want to express a deep welcome to homosexual people in our church. We should treat all people with love and respect. We shun actions and words that demean and marginalise; we reject discrimination, and especially grieve the way people who identify as homosexual have been treated in our society and churches.
While the SEC’s action is ostensibly about the inclusion of homosexual people in the church, it actually undermines the Biblical witness to the ultimate trajectory of salvation, our union with Christ. We must not fall for the world’s view that holding to the teaching of Christ on marriage means we can’t be welcoming to homosexual people in the church. …”
Calls for WordPress to remove rainbow banner from hosted sites
“Christian bloggers are among those calling for hosting organisation WordPress to remove a rainbow banner from the top of its Australian hosted pages, saying that it makes an unwanted political statement on their sites.
The banner, which was spotted on sites over the weekend, appears at the top of sites when users are logged in. …”
– from Sight Magazine.
‘An expression of love for same-sex attracted people’
“This past week I was part of an effort that put America’s theological and moral fault lines fully in view. I was a signer of something called the Nashville Statement, a document adopted by a group of evangelical Christians seeking to reaffirm traditional Christian values on sexuality.
Within hours, the vitriol in response to our document showed why such clarification is necessary. …”
— The Washington Post has published this opinion piece by Albert Mohler.
Related:
The Bee Explains: What Is The Nashville Statement? — The Babylon Bee (Satire.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…