1 – what did Jesus say about marriage?
2 – did he define who should be married?
3 – on what grounds did he make any comment?
4 – what does he say about our PM’s proposals?
5 – how would the PM respond to preceding Qs?
6 – if a Christian, how will PM respond to Jesus?

Do these subprime Tory plebs really understand the difference between aristocracy and meritocracy?

“Society is stronger when people enter into a stable relationship and commit to each other. So we do not believe the State should stop people getting married unless there are very good reasons. Being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender are not good reasons to prevent marriage. If we believe commitment, fidelity and marriage are positive things – as this Government strongly does – then we should let them flourish, not restrict them.”

Certainly it does appear the case that societies that have liberal and tolerant attitudes to homosexuality and same sex unions tend, in the main, to have a lower divorce rate and (looking at other indicators – teen pregnancy, violent crime, social inequality, access to health care, levels of obesity, lone parent households etc.) greater social ‘wholesomeness’.

The three links below show the divorce/household make up in the USA, the state pro & anti SSM and the prevalence of religion – i.e. the Bible Belt and there is certainly a loose correlation between religion and social conservatism resulting in higher rates of divorce, separation and single parent households (not to mention higher levels of teen pregnancy, violent crime, social inequality, poor access to health care and high levels of obesity).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f4/Maritalstatus.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samesex_marriage_in_USA.svg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/BibleBelt.png

For many, particularly those of a religious bent, there is the facile belief that somewhere in the recent past there was a halcyon era which has been destroyed by liberal values and attitudes. In truth of course, we live in a far, far more socially moral society than at any other time in history. The problem is (and I suspect this has more to do with the preoccupations of some of our conservative brethren) there is an over emphasis on sexual morality – a stark (and sad) example is Anglicanmainstream itself: post after post on matters below the waist (and usually confined to convenient minorities). Biblical morality is a far wider concept and governs all aspects of a person’s life – yet the stress (for our conservative chums) appears overly concerned with what people do with their wing-wangs and (to a lesser degree) lady-gardens.

Over the past forty years we have seen Britain plunged into economic and social crises on at least three occasions – the first because of ‘Old Labour’s’ in ability to control the unions and adjust Britain’s economy to the rapidly changing economic world of the 1970s; the second rampant greed and self-seeking, coupled with deregulation of the markets that led to a debt fuelled boom under Thatcher (in addition to massive indirect tax rises and government spending, despite the fact the official policy was the opposite – this led to government debt that still makes up a good portion of greater debt accrued by Blair, Brown and their vile cronies); and of course the debt fuelled bubble of the early naughties that just made the same mistakes as Thatcher’s governments, with the addition of unbridled government spending and inefficiency and New Labour wished to control all aspects of our lives.

Hence we now live in an age where many teenagers are out of work; there are considerable stresses and strains on family life because of the combined inheritance of the financial mismanagement (not to mention a good dollop of personal greed and financial irresponsibility by Joe Public) and wider economic issues. Yet do we read of any sensible debate or comment on these very real threats to family life from our conservative fellow parishioners? Hardly a whisper. Anglicanmainstream, The Christian Institute, Catholic Voices etc. rarely make sorties into such necessary territory. Instead it is a catalogue of stories about homos, gay marriage and pro-life (often with a salacious, self-righteous and judgemental twist; or an unashamed economy with the truth – how hot these folk are when it comes to Lev 18:22, but less so when it comes to the requirements of Lev 20:16). You’d be hard pressed to find a story condemning government policy (unless it is homo related) or some sensible suggestions about what would make a more wholesome society that doesn’t involve mention of sex or matters related. Well, water finds its own level, as they say, but really, why should the present government take the slightest notice about lobbying and pressure groups that narrow their efforts to a few controversial causes yet seem strangely silent when it comes to the wider issues of Biblical morality?

Hurray for Cameron is what I say – and as for Anglicanmainstream and its bitter and contemptible companions… perhaps a study day on Galatians 6:7 is in order…