Draft Australian Same Sex Marriage legislation unveiled
“Today the Federal Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC, released an Exposure Draft of the legislation that would, if it were to pass the Federal Parliament, introduce same sex marriage to Australia- the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill. There is a good summary of the provisions of the legislation in a press release issued by the Attorney-General. This follows the introduction on 14 September 2016 of an enabling Bill to allow a plebiscite, a popular vote, on the matter to be put to the Australian public, the Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016. That Bill has not yet received any substantive consideration by the Parliament.
Earlier today the leader of the Australian Labour Party Opposition, Bill Shorten, announced that his Party would be voting against the enabling Plebiscite Bill when it reaches the Senate…”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster takes a look at the draft Same Sex Marriage legislation.
A world without God
“Wow. How did this one get past the censors? It was incredible. And moving beyond words.
What am I talking about? Sally Phillips most extraordinary documentary, A World without Down’s Syndrome, which screened on the BBC this week.
Sally is well known as the TV comedy actress from TV shows like Miranda and the Bridget Jones films. She is also a Christian and her oldest son Olly has Down’s syndrome. …
I’m not ashamed to admit I wept – not just a wee cry, but sobbed. I don’t know when I last saw something so moving, profound and world revealing.”
– David Roberston (Minister of St. Peter’s Free Church in Dundee) writes at The Wee Flea. The documentary is available here.
Related: Mom of baby with Down syndrome sends remarkable letter to doctor who recommended abortion.
Findings from the New Atlantis Report on Sexuality and Gender
“I would like to draw your attention to one of the most important research events in recent history, and that is the publication in the Fall 2016 issue of the New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society, of a special report on sexuality and gender, subtitled, ‘Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences.’…
In this huge issue of the New Atlantis, Mayer and McHugh go right at what they considered to be the scientific basis behind the claims of the modern sexual and gender revolutionaries. The point of this research, however, and of the two authors, is not so much to make a moral point, but a scientific point. And in order to do so, they’ve looked at the major scientific claims of those who had presented the research on LGBT issues, and in particular issues of gender and sexuality.”
– Albert Mohler outlines some of the key findings of this landmark publication.
And for the relevant issue of New Atlantis, see: New Atlantis Number 50.
Some of Victoria’s ‘inherent requirements’ amendments may be unconstitutional
“The Victorian Government introduced the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Religious Exceptions) Bill 2016 into its Parliament on 30 August 2016. It has passed the Legislative Assembly without amendment, and is presently before the Legislative Council. …
I have commented in a previous post as to why I think this is poor legislation from a policy perspective. In that previous post I briefly noted that an argument could be made that some of the amendments, at least, would be unconstitutional. Since that previous post I have looked into the area further and am fairly sure that this is the case. Here I want to develop the case a bit further. …”
– In his latest post at Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster sheds light on the proposed Victorian bill.
No need for a censor if we censor ourselves
“It happened again this week. It will doubtless happen many times in the weeks and months and years to come.
A Christian dared to elaborate publicly on why he thought homosexual practice was morally wrong, and was greeted not with counter-argument or rebuttal, but outpourings of abhorrence and anger, as well as regret and apology on the part of the event organisers (that such a view had come to be to be expressed on their platform)…”
– At Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living, Tony Payne writes about the strong temptation for Christians to ‘self censor’.
Related: “Can we talk about same-sex marriage?” – Wednesday 19th October at the Centre for Christian Living.
LGBTI threats against Mercure Hotel show ‘poison’ in public life
“The poison in Australia’s public life has reached a point where a casual bystander now can fall victim to the tactics used to win a fight at all costs.
The latest sign of the illness came when employees at a Sydney hotel answered the telephone last week to hear threats of physical violence. Their crime? The Mercure Sydney Airport Hotel had taken a booking for a conference room for four Christian groups.
This was not an isolated threat. The phone calls kept coming. …
Threatening phone calls to a Sydney hotel may seem like a minor test of these principles, yet the affair is instructive all the same. When the campaign went too far there was a reluctance to call it out. Australian Marriage Equality refused to condemn it. The Greens have declined a request to comment. The early response from the ‘progressive’ side of politics was to deny the problem. The message is that rights are not always worth fighting for.”
– from The Australian. (via SydneyAnglicans.net.)
John Howard and the Myths of the 2004 Marriage amendments
“The debates over redefining marriage in Australia have acquired in recent years some high profile “myths” or, to use the modern parlance, “memes”, which are regularly repeated.
One of the most enduring is that the battle for same sex marriage is impeded by a supposedly shocking set of amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 which were made by conservative Prime Minister John Howard in 2004.
To take some recent quotes which illustrate the points:
“It was the Howard Government that in 2004 changed the Marriage Act to specifically refer to marriage being “the union of a man and a woman,” locking out any possibility to include gay couples in the definition without a change in the law.”
“[T[his weekend marks the twelfth anniversary of John Howard’s amendments to the Australian Marriage Act. You know, those amendments that didn’t require a plebiscite? Those amendments that made it a legal requirement for celebrants to remind champagne-tipsy wedding parties around the country that marriage was between a man and a woman at the exclusion of all others?”
There are two ‘myths’ being presented here…”
At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster tackles two oft-repeated myths –
“Myth 1: the 2004 amendments redefined marriage” and “Myth 2: Celebrants reading out the words”.
‘Printer bans book against gay marriage’
“First we saw two commercial TV stations ban an ad backing traditional marriage. So did SBS. Then we saw a Catholic Archbishop taken to the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commission for defending traditional marriage. Next, we saw a meeting of Christian opponents of same-sex marriage bombarded with abuse and threats, forcing its cancellation. And now a printer has refused to print a book arguing against same-sex marriage …”
– Andrew Bolt writes in The Herald Sun.
See also The Australian Marriage Forum blog.
The Intolerance of Tolerance
“It was only in 2012 that Don Carson published a book with the title The Intolerance of Tolerance.
It is a book that traces the development of so-called ‘tolerance’. How far we have come from the days of ‘I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’ The philosophical shift has happened so quickly, and it looks set to impact many areas of life.
The matter is worth contemplating afresh in the midst of the current discussion about same-sex marriage in our country. Or rather, the current discussion about whether or not our country should even have a national discussion!…”
– Over at SydneyAnglicans.net, Raj Gupta reminds Christians of the huge shift taking place around us.
Evangelical Fellowship in the Church in Wales responds to Archbishop Barry Morgan
From GAFCON:
The Archbishop of Wales, the Rt Revd Barry Morgan, has recently claimed that ‘sex properly belongs’ in committed same sex relationships and that the Bible can be interpreted as supporting such relationships, but the Evangelical Fellowship of the Church in Wales considers these remarks to be a licence to disregard biblical authority.
The Governing Body of the Church in Wales met in Lampeter 14th -15th September, 2016. Following the press coverage of the Archbishop’s address, the executive committee of EFCW responds as follows:
We want to wish the Archbishop well in his retirement. We note the Archbishop’s final presidential address at Governing Body, and still struggle to understand how his approach to scripture is not just licence to disregard its authority. We believe that the inclusivity of Jesus, to which the Archbishop referred, was one not only of loving everyone, but also of calling everyone to a degree of repentance which would result in following him exclusively as Lord. We note Jesus gave an invitation to everyone, but warned repeatedly and frequently of consequences for those who rejected him. We are therefore delighted that one of the closing discussions at Governing Body got people talking about the need to engage in mission and evangelism. We hope and pray that these are the issues that occupy the time and energy of the Church in Wales in the years to come.
16th Sept 2016. (Source: Evangelical Fellowship of the Church in Wales.)
Photo: The Church in Wales.
Presbyterian Church of Australia re-affirms the biblical view of marriage
Here’s a post from John Wilson, the newly commissioned Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. In part, he says,
“Wednesday evening saw the reaffirmation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia’s resolute commitment to uphold the biblical and traditional view of marriage … For the sake of transparency, we held the debate in public. We took the risk that our debate might be disrupted or our decisions misreported.”
Full comments below:
“Wednesday evening saw the reaffirmation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia’s resolute commitment to uphold the biblical and traditional view of marriage. The Presbyterian Church has always believed and still believes that marriage is the lifelong union of one man with one woman, voluntarily entered into, excluding all others.
Through informed and thorough theological debate, the Church demonstrated that it has not moved from its historic position or the commitments expressed in 2013.
This week, the church strengthened its position by declaring that it cannot allow its ministers to conduct celebrations of same sex marriage.
The church went even further this time. It debated the point at which it should withdraw as a denomination from cooperating with the state in celebrating and registering marriages under the Marriage Act. The major alternatives were: at the moment the Marriage Act is redefined to include same-sex marriages (if it is changed), OR, at a later point – yet to be determined – when we are forced by legislation to conduct same-sex marriage. The church chose the second option.
The Presbyterian Church has been at the forefront of the spiritual battle in Australia to uphold and preserve the biblical and traditional view of marriage. It has been resolute in its opposition to same-sex marriage. The church maintains that while God provides forgiveness of, and redemption from, all sin through Christ, he condemns homosexual behaviour, along with all other forms of sin.
For the sake of transparency, we held the debate in public. We took the risk that our debate might be disrupted or our decisions misreported. Sadly, an online article was published without consultation by Eternity News on Thursday morning that placed our position in a different light.
Rev John P Wilson
Moderator-General
Presbyterian Church of Australia.”
“Christian ‘no’ campaign event forced to fold”
“Christian groups have been forced to cancel a same-sex marriage meeting in Sydney amid physical threats.
Four Christian groups were scheduled to meet at the Mercure Sydney Airport Hotel in preparation for a ‘no’ campaign for the potential plebiscite…
About one hundred people – from the Sydney Anglicans, Sydney Catholics, the Marriage Alliance and the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) were expected to attend the meeting.”
– See the full report at Sky News.
‘Same-sex marriage plebiscite: Churches allege PM made cash pledge’
“A public firestorm has erupted around Malcolm Turnbull over accusations he pledged millions of taxpayer dollars to Australia’s most senior church leaders to fund their campaign against same-sex marriage.
Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies, one of the country’s most senior Anglican leaders, told The Sunday Telegraph the Prime Minister’s offer to fund both sides of the campaign was ‘unambiguous’.
Church leaders fear the PM will renege on the pledge. They want $10 million to fund a ‘No’ campaign, the same amount offered to each side of the republic referendum in 1999, adjusted for inflation. …”
– Report from The Daily Telegraph. (Photo: malcolmturnbull.com.au.)
See also
Same-sex marriage: Turnbull pledged to fund both sides of plebiscite debate, Archbishop says – ABC News.
Commentary from Andrew Bolt in The Herald Sun.
Malcolm Turnbull and churches at odds over funding of marriage equality plebiscite – The Guardian.
“The Australian Christian Lobby boss, Lyle Shelton, tweeted that he was at the February meeting and the archbishop’s recollection was correct.”
Update from Presbyterian Moderator-General, David Cook:
Moderator’s Comments – Posted 16 February 2016 (Republished 11 September 2016)
(In view of the controversy in today’s paper, regarding funding of both sides for the plebiscite, we are republishing these notes from a meeting with the Prime Minister earlier this year, along with my responses. David Cook)
On Friday 12 February, at the invitation of the Australian Christian Lobby, I joined a delegation to meet Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in his Sydney office. It was agreed that we confine our remarks to the issue of the plebiscite regarding single gender marriage which will be held, in the event of a coalition victory, soon after the next Federal election.
The issues which concerned us were:
- The framing of the question to be answered in the plebiscite. Would we have input into this so that it did not unfairly encourage the preferred response of either side?
- The question of religious freedom both during and after the debate, if the plebiscite is lost.
- If the Commonwealth was to provide funding for campaigns, how would such funding be allocated? The campaign in favour of single sex marriage in Ireland outspent the traditional campaign, 15 to 1.
- When will the proposed Bill to change the Marriage Act and enable the plebiscite, be available?
- Will the PM do all in his power to ensure equal access to media for both sides of the argument?
The PM was warm and engaging and assured us that he was interested in matters of spirituality and, “enjoys a good homily”.
Victorian challenge to religious freedom of faith-based organisations
Here’s an important post from Law and Religion Australia’s Neil Foster:
“On 30 August 2016 the Victorian Attorney-General introduced into the Victorian lower house the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Religious Exceptions) Bill 2016.
The Bill proposes to “amend the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 to modify the religious exceptions in relation to the employment of a person by religious bodies and schools”.
I would like to suggest that, if enacted, it will fundamentally impair the religious freedom of faith-based organisations. In fact, it might also be found to be constitutionally invalid and of no effect. …
The effect of the amendments … is to seriously undercut the religious freedom of many religious schools and charitable organisations, and indeed to undermine the very reason for their existence.”
Marriage debate ‘taints’ outcome, says Anglican Archbishop
“The leader of the nation’s largest Anglican diocese has warned that the political debate on same-sex marriage is ‘so tainted’ its resolution is beyond the ‘capabilities of the current parliament’.
Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies said the issue went to a change that would ‘affect the foundations of our society’. All Australians needed to be consulted and the arguments against marriage equality given a fair public hearing, he said. …”
– Full story from The Australian. (Paywalled.) Photo: Moore College.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…