June 30, 2015
By Margaret Mayman
The recent decision to legalise marriage (click here) for same sex couples in Ireland has been cast as a victory against the Catholic Church. What secular commentators miss is that it was a decisive victory for ordinary Christians.
The people of Ireland, who are still overwhelmingly Catholic, decided to follow their consciences. In the US, many Christians, including some evangelicals, are celebrating the Supreme Court decision to legalise marriage equality. They are faithful followers of Jesus, whose life and teaching call us to radical inclusion and hospitality, who saw sin in practices that marginalised and excluded people. The biblical call to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves provides the mandate for marriage equality.
The majority of Christians in Australia are making the same choice as the people of Ireland. We are tired of our voices and values being misrepresented by a noisy lobby group and out of touch denominational leaders. A 2014 poll found 59 per cent of Australian Christians support marriage equality. Not in spite of our faith, but because of it. The Australian Christian Lobby and Fred Nile's Christian Democrat Party do not speak for us. In fact, the CDP speaks for very few. The last census indicated that 61 per cent of Australians are Christian and only 3.24 per cent of the NSW population supported the CDP at the last state election....
By Margaret Mayman
The recent decision to legalise marriage (click here) for same sex couples in Ireland has been cast as a victory against the Catholic Church. What secular commentators miss is that it was a decisive victory for ordinary Christians.
The people of Ireland, who are still overwhelmingly Catholic, decided to follow their consciences. In the US, many Christians, including some evangelicals, are celebrating the Supreme Court decision to legalise marriage equality. They are faithful followers of Jesus, whose life and teaching call us to radical inclusion and hospitality, who saw sin in practices that marginalised and excluded people. The biblical call to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves provides the mandate for marriage equality.
The majority of Christians in Australia are making the same choice as the people of Ireland. We are tired of our voices and values being misrepresented by a noisy lobby group and out of touch denominational leaders. A 2014 poll found 59 per cent of Australian Christians support marriage equality. Not in spite of our faith, but because of it. The Australian Christian Lobby and Fred Nile's Christian Democrat Party do not speak for us. In fact, the CDP speaks for very few. The last census indicated that 61 per cent of Australians are Christian and only 3.24 per cent of the NSW population supported the CDP at the last state election....
