More than a civil partnership – Quakers will marry same-sex couples

by Petit Fours

A religious group has just gone further than the UK government in giving gay people human rights.

The Quakers – a Christian church known for their pacifism, egalitarianism, porridge oats and being the people who sailed from England on the Mayflower to start the USA – are on the verge of sanctioning gay marriage.

They could actually get in legal trouble for offering to marry same sex couples. Supposedly churches are only allowed to ‘bless’ civil partnerships, which the Quakers and some Anglicans have been doing for 10 or so years.

But, because Quaker ministers have the power to declare two people married in law, they could – if they choose – ‘marry’ a woman and a woman or a man and a man. And according to the BBC it looks like they will.

I say – great. The fuss and hatred over gay marriage has really tarnished a lot of churches in my opinion. Pettiness and prejudice have been much more evident than higher visions, moral leadership, understanding of the contemporary world, the appreciation of love. The list goes on.

The Quakers seem to have got the balance right. As the BBC’s religious correspondent says: Quakers had been more prepared than other groups to reinterpret the Bible in the light of contemporary life.

If I decide to get married to someone I’m gonna do it in a Quaker church.

It’s not that I particularly want approval or recognition from religious groups. I think a lot of gay people learn early on that they’re not going to get it, so they learn not to look to religion for support or guidance.

It’s a shame because I’m sure many gay people do believe in god or higher powers of some sort, and like any other person, surely they deserve the comforts of religion.

Perhaps most galling in the debate over gays and God is the fact that religious texts such as the Bible have been interpreted to suit powers that be multiple times over in their long history. Biblical strictures against divorce and cross-breeding goats etc have been conveniently forgotten, while others like those against homosexual sex have been flagged up and clung to.

Will any other churches step forward and start making positive gestures like this? I hope so.