What the public really think!

 It was, I believe, the Labour politician Harriet Harman who coined the phrase "the court of public opinion" or, if she didn't, certainly brought it to the notice of that same public.  She, of course, was comparing such a "court" with the established legal systems of the UK (plural because, of course, Scotland has its own separate system!).  However, it would be good if politicians, today, were to take some heed to what the public thinks about the issue of same-gender "marriage".

In another of the Coalition for Marriage's "Marriage Minutes", Dr Sharon James looks at public opinion on the subject - and also at how those who are pushing for marriage to be redefined, skew poll results by the content of their questioning!



Please feel free to copy any, or all, of these "Marriage Minutes" to your own blog, website, or social media site.

One doesn't have to be religious!

Sometimes, the impression is given that it is only "religious homophobes" who are opposed to the attempts by both the Scottish, and U.K., governments to redefine marriage. However, this article is publicised by a totally non-religious group that calls itself "ThEUnit". It is encouraging to see that the real agenda of the already discredited EU is being exposed! Please feel free to publish on any social website to which you belong. 

"Cameron's Gay Marriage policy: we've been lied to!
I want to continue connecting the dots today, seeing as I feel like I'm on a roll in exposing the Truth. This article, and the supporting material in our Video Library, bring together the legislation behind the non-manifesto policy suddenly introduced into Parliament by our Honest and Honourable leader, Le Bon Premier Dave Cameronie.

Preaching the verse about equal rights, and presenting the Coalition policy on same-sex marriage, Mr Cameron implemented an EU Commission Directive, not in the election Manifesto, and sold it to the UK Public as a national policy.

It was not! Here is the link to the full article that Andrew (Fear) investigated, with links back to the original EU program which mandates this policy as a Federal EU Law.

http://www.th-eu-nit.com/index.php/articles/1773-eu-aims-at-recognizing-same-sex-marriage-in-all-27-member-states

As supporting evidence to demonstrate that Mr Cameron's policy on Gay Marriage is not Mr Cameron's at all, but is the work of Mr Van Rompuy and Mr Barroso, and scribed by the hands of the Orcs of Mordor (a reference to elf-like creatures who could not stand the light of the sun, in Tolkein's Lord of the Rings) in the EU Commission, we have here a video of recent massive street protests in Paris, as the French Government implemented the exact same EU Law, and Gay Marriage which enraged many many French Citizens.

http://www.th-eu-nit.com/index.php/video-library/2097-street-protests-errupt-in-paris-over-eu-gay-marriage-laws"

So we may say, with apologies to ET, that "we are not alone"!

Marriage Mistakes #2.

"Mistake #2: Sexuality is a Civil Rights Issue.

When Lady Gaga sings, “Baby, I was born this way,” it makes for good music. [I don't agree with Phil on everything!]  When Barack Obama embraces it as a political philosophy, it makes for bad government.
He used his inauguration speech to liken the fight for same-sex marriage to the epic struggle won by Abraham Lincoln against black slavery, and by Martin Luther King Jr. against racial segregation, saying: “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law — for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.” Barack Obama is a master at rhetoric, but this is lazy at best and insulting at worst.

Issues of race and of sexuality are entirely different. To try to twist this is not to carry on the journey started by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.; it is to insult what they stood for and try to hijack their legacy.
 
I have searched in vain for a robust medical study which shows that our sexuality is written deep into our DNA. It hasn’t been proven that homosexuality is genetic any more than it has been proven that homosexuality is caused by our environment. It appears that it is simply one of many sexual preferences that societies ought to weigh carefully, and then label right or wrong.

A boy who falls in love with his sister can’t marry her because we have ruled that incest is wrong. A man who falls in love with a twelve-year-old girl can’t marry her because we have ruled that child abuse is wrong.
We may decide that a man falling in love with a man is as equally valid as a man falling in love with a woman, but we can’t do so by appealing to genetics and civil rights. Men are twice as likely as women to become addicted to pornography, but their XY chromosomes don’t mean that their temptation is justified. 
 
It’s entirely right for us to have a free and open debate on whether homosexuality is right or wrong, but it’s entirely wrong to pretend that this is a civil rights issue like black slavery or racial segregation.
This is all about moral choices, not genetics. Barack Obama should be ashamed of himself for insulting the memory of Lincoln and King by suggesting otherwise." 

The above is Part 2 of Phil Moore's excellent article.  Be sure to check tomorrow, for the third, and final, episode!  Not having received any news to the contrary, I am now assuming that full permission to publish has been granted!   (No idea why this publishes in upper-case only!  It's in normal sentence style when I type it!).

Marriage mistakes!

Okay, don't be concerned.  I am not about to launch into a series of jokes about marriage such as one might hear from any stand-up "comedian" (the word is in quotes because, in my opinion, most of what is given out is not even mildly funny!).  What I am going to do, over three days, is share some thoughts on "same-gender marriage" that were given by a London pastor, Phil Moore, in a website named Church Leaders.  I am grateful to Phil's secretary for granting me permission to use them - and just hope that he doesn't withdraw that permission!

"If you believe the newspapers then it’s already been decided. The fight to legalize same-sex marriage has already been won.
Prime Minister, David Cameron, introduced a bill to the British Parliament, which will be [was] debated on February 5, that is not being opposed by the opposition.
President Obama has used his second inauguration speech to signal that he also intends to legalize gay marriage in the U.S. through federal law.
The French President, Francois Hollande, has dismissed public protests over his support for same-sex marriage as the reactionary chattering of the no-longer-radical bourgeoisie.
But while politicians steamroll their proposals into law, they are ignoring some fundamental questions. Let me point out just three of the big mistakes that they are making:

Mistake #1: Everybody Knows That Same-Sex Marriage Should be Legalized.

Suppose we held a referendum that revealed this statement to be true. Suppose the majority of Britons and Americans actually did believe that same-sex marriage should be legalized — would that therefore make it right?

If the majority of Afghans voted that women should be barred from education, they wouldn’t therefore be right. When the majority of British people voted in the early 19th century that there was nothing wrong with slavery, campaigners didn’t stop arguing that the majority was wrong.

In fact, the essence of the pro-gay argument is that majority opinion has been wrong in the past on the issue of sexuality! Even in the purest of democracies, it is accepted that the majority opinion should be tested rather than turned into hastily drafted law. Consensus has long been the refuge of rascals, who attempt to stifle debate by claiming that the matter has already been decided.

What is becoming clear, anyway, is that the majority of people do not in fact back this major change to society.

Although the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, argued in last Sunday’s issue of The Times that redefining marriage will be a vote-winner for the conservatives, the real noise at the conservative head office is that of the large numbers of Tories who feel betrayed that this legislation was not in the party’s election manifesto. The British Youth Parliament has called on the government to drop gay marriage as a priority. In scenes reminiscent of the days before the war with Iraq, we are watching politicians make decisions without consulting those who elected them, only to regret their hastiness too late afterwards."

Of course, here in Scotland, we have our own "fight".  Please remember that, if you are reading this before 1650 (4.50 p.m.) GMT today, you still have time to respond to the Scottish Government's consultation - wherever in the world you may live.  The link to the website, into which you need type only a few personal details, is:
http://scotlandformarriage.org/consultation2013/

Every response helps!

Redefinition of Marriage in Scotland – PLEASE ACT!

As already stated, the Scottish Government is currently consulting on the possible impact of redefining marriage.  We have seen examples, even before a change in the law, of ordinary people being penalised for believing marriage should only be between one man and one woman (my own situation is a case in point, but it is not the only one - see http://www.christian.org.uk/news/primary-teacher-job-threat-over-gay-marriage-storybook/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+christianinstitute+%28The+Christian+Institute%29).

Therefore, it is vital for as many people as possible to respond to the consultation before it closes on March 20th.  There are two ways by which you may take action:

1. Supporters in Scotland should have received a letter this week from CARE which contains an advice booklet for submitting a response which you can follow.

NB. Please remember to try to draft responses to questions in your own words.  There are also briefings available here: Short Briefing | Full Briefing and further information on responding can be found on the Scottish Government website here.

2. If you are short of time you can respond online using our response form which can be found here.  This will submit pre-drafted answers which is better than not responding at all but please, if you have time, try to submit your response as outlined in Option 1.

This is a very significant stage in the battle to maintain marriage as it has always been, and I would urge all who care for traditional marriage, as ordained by God, to make a response.  

Marriage Minutes #7

Another brief video statement from the Coalition for Marriage.




By the way, I'm "in the news" myself - see the Christian Institute box in the right-hand-side of the blog!  (You may have to wait, or hover over and click on the right arrow until the relevant article is shown.  Then click on blue 'headline' to read the full article).

Marriage - the fight continues!

Another brief video message - letting us know of some of the realities that occur when marriage is redefined!  It's worth taking the less than two minutes to view!

Marriage.

On Tuesday, Feb 5th, the House of Commons, in Westminster, will have the first opportunity to vote on the Bill for the proposed legalisation of homosexual/lesbian "marriage".  It is, of course, not just a religious and moral issue.  More and more it is being realised that such legislation would open up a veritable Pandora's Box with regard to civil liberties; and would require an inordinate amount of Parliamentary time to be further used in the changes to primary legislation that would then be required.

However, that is not all.  There is the well-known (although often ignored!) "Law of unintended consequences".  The Coalition for Marriage have been providing some brief video messages dealing with some of them.  Now that I have discovered how to obtain the necessary embedding code, I plan to air them on this blog.  No.3 is here.



Please pray that many MPs will have the courage to vote against the Bill at its reading on Tuesday.