Church rep says marriage can only be between man and woman
Leroy Flowers
On the other hand, Canon Flowers believes the issue extends beyond gay rights. He says the powers vested in marriage officers, specifically priests, are to administer wedding vows only to a man and a woman.
Canon Leroy Flowers
“There is no denying the fact that it is much more than gay rights per se. I think it’s a matter of how do we exist as a society. What are the underlying principles besides just the law all that the government may have to do is repeal that portion of the law but it’s about men getting married, rights and responsibilities given to them under the law of the land. Those are the issues that should be vexing our minds as it were because we need to remember that in the society that the government gives authority for marriage officers. Most clergy persons are marriage officers in this land but that authority is only given by the state. Now if the state has to amend the law can the state now withholds permission for clergy persons to marry same sex couples?”
The case will be argued by a cadre of high profile attorneys. Representing Orosco and UNIBAM is Senior Counsel Lisa Shoman while Lord Peter Goldsmith QC, former attorney general for England and Wales and Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith are representing a group of international organizations who have joined UNIBAM as interested parties. The Council of Churches is being represented by attorneys Rodwell Williams, Eamon Courtenay, Michel Chebat, Jackie Marshalleck and Chris Coye.
I look around this world ,I see too many rights made wrong,homosexuals already have the same rights as a man or a woman, individually ,but the only thing a man on man or woman on woman can gain is money wise through the Government,which is some what like a married man and women get,…just my opinion which don’t mean much,but marriage is that of a man and a woman ,this other is that of communist one world order….so watch your back side(literally).
I am not picking on you Canon but I believe you have the option to refuse to perform a wedding ceremony if you cannot do so in good faith & while that may be UNIBAM’s eventual goal, that is not the issue before the court. I am not sure how many weddings you have performed this year but many of the people that I know have attended more funerals than weddings & sadly too many of them for young men whom the church & schools were unable to reach. Allow your church to remain a place of worship & not encourage division in your flock. That baritone who has been a consistent voice in your choir is there because he worships the same God you do, he is not single because he has not met the right girl, he is single because they are seeking the same thing. Time, puberty & middle age did not cure them & neither did prayers & I am saddened by the fact that there will be people advocating for positions they do not really support,
This “slippery slope” argument is another favourite tactic of hate mongers. No one is asking for gay marriage. Half this country live in common law relationships, while the couples who do legal marry often have a “sweetheart” or “joe grind” on the side. So wax poetically about the sanctity of marriage, but in Belize marriage means squat to many people. Fix your own house first.
Religion fogs the way people sees the world. religion is just another thing to make people disagree and hate each other, and it gives people unrealistic reasons to disdain gays. im not trying to put catholics or christians down,but it is wrong to promote hate to others and use God to justify it. If this is what we can expect from the People of God, it is not wonder the last census showed an increase of people that no longer belong to any religion
Why allow these foreign Attorneys to come to our Country to decide our fate.The British already raped the Jewel and now the former Attorney General of England and Wales will once again be given the oppertunity to impose their nasty lifestyle on our people.
Come on Dean, practice you dictatorship skills with this gay case; you have been doing good all along so come on now; don;t you have the balls?
Elgin I wholeheartedly agree with you no foreigner should decide for Belizeans as well in the fact that their lifestyle is not our own. The churches do not divide people they seek to help but what man will say that they are wrong when pleasure is at its peek and in his own eye see wrong right? Wrong is wrong and right is right. God does not change humans do. as for its only love the census is a sad reality that yes indeed church members have declined but why? same reason man wants to live the way he wants and foolishly believes in his heart that there are no consequences? Our country has been enduring many tragic problems in recent years and people ask why? Come on people the truth dances naked in our sight but we pretend as if it were not there. God can never be mocked! Yes marriage is suppose to be a sacred and “till death do us part” oath but hey ever sat down and thought why Christ came and died on the cross? its because we’re not perfect! I hope that this opens the eyes of my beloved brothers and sisters and see that God wasn’t joking when He said that we should be an example to the world because we are open letters that are daily read to them. Remove God and you end up worse than Sodom and Gomorrah….lets do the equation sin + consequences=Death. that’s what God said and remember our thoughts change being more inclined to evil than good but God remains the same. God is love…He loves us all but He hates the sin in us. This is no hate speech just a reminder of the truth. Is there anything impossible for our Creator? Nope.
God Bless
FUNNY HE HAS NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT VIOLENT CRIME…..and THE ETERNAL LOVE OF GOD.
Instead of worry who wants to get married, people need to focus on their own relationships and worry about things that are preventing them from putting food on their tables.
BT, BzinCALI and WOw well said these people are bone idle. Marriage?
I found an interesting article about a gay clergy,
June 9, 2008
The openly gay US Episcopal bishop at the centre of the Anglican church’s global battle over homosexuality, has entered into a civil union with his longtime partner at a private ceremony.
About 120 guests gathered at St Paul’s Church in New Hampshire for Saturday’s ceremony for Bishop Gene Robinson and his partner of more than 19 years, Mark Andrews. The event was kept private out of respect for next month’s worldwide Anglican conference, Robinson’s spokesman, Mike Barwell, said on Sunday.
“It was absolutely joyful,” Barwell said by telephone. “A lot of his supporters and friends were there, including many members of the gay and lesbian community.”
The 77 million-member Anglican Communion, a global federation of national churches, has been in upheaval since 2003 when the Episcopal Church consecrated Robinson as the first bishop known to be in an openly homosexual relationship in more than four centuries of church history.
The Episcopal Church is the US branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Disputes over scriptural authority, the blessing of gay unions and other matters have become a worldwide issue and threaten turmoil this summer when Anglicans gather for their once-a-decade Lambeth Conference in Britain.
Robinson has in the past received death threats and wore a bulletproof vest under his vestments at his consecration in 2003. Two uniformed police officers stood guard at Saturday’s ceremony in the state capital Concord, said Barwell.
Robinson and Andrews held two ceremonies – a non-religious one in which they became legal partners followed by a formal church service to give blessings to God for their relationship.
Robinson, 61, a divorced father of two, praised New Hampshire’s lawmakers when they passed legislation last year to make the state the fourth in the country where same-sex civil unions are legal. The law took effect on January 1.
Robinson has said he wanted to enter into the civil union before leaving for England to ensure Andrew and his two daughters had legal protections given the threats to his life.
(I think Belize had a similar situation about ten years ago, only the homophobes in Belize caused this clergy never to come out as a gay man. Sadly he is no longer with us.) Imagine christians – judge and jury suggesting death threats because the Bishop found love. I expect nothing else, sadly much of the hate we see in this world stem from religion. e.g Suicide bombings, War of Sunni against Shias muslims, Jews against Muslims and vice versa, and Christians preaching hate at their convenience.
The Bible is a book about God — not a book about human sexuality.
The Bible is the story of God’s love for the world and the people of the world. It tells the history of God’s love at work rescuing, renewing, and empowering humankind. It was never intended to be a book about human sexuality. Certainly, you will agree.
In fact, the Bible accepts sexual practices that we condemn and condemns sexual practices that we accept. Lots of them! Here are a few examples.
DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21
If it is discovered that a bride is not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately.
DEUTERONOMY 22:22
If a married person has sex with someone else’s husband or wife, the Bible commands that both adulterers be stoned to death.
MARK 10:1-12
Divorce is strictly forbidden in both Testaments, as is remarriage of anyone who has been divorced.
LEVITICUS 18:19
The Bible forbids a married couple from having sexual intercourse during a woman’s period. If they disobey, both shall be executed.
MARK 12:18-27
If a man dies childless, his widow is ordered by biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn until she bears her deceased husband a male heir.
DEUTERONOMY 25:11-12
If a man gets into a fight with another man and his wife seeks to rescue her husband by grabbing the enemy’s genitals, her hand shall be cut off and no pity shall be shown her.
I’m certain you don’t agree with these teachings from the Bible about sex. And you shouldn’t. The list goes on: The Bible says clearly that sex with a prostitute is acceptable for the husband but not for the wife. Polygamy (more than one wife) is acceptable, as is a king’s having many concubines. (Solomon, the wisest king of all, had 1,000 concubines.) Slavery and sex with slaves, marriage of girls aged 11-13, and treatment of women as property are all accepted practices in the Scriptures. On the other hand, there are strict prohibitions against interracial marriage, birth control, discussing or even naming a sexual organ, and seeing one’s parents nude.
Over the centuries the Holy Spirit has taught us that certain Bible verses should not be understood as God’s law for all time periods. Some verses are specific to the culture and time they were written, and are no longer viewed as appropriate, wise, or just.
Often, the Holy Spirit uses science to teach us why those ancient words no longer apply to our modern times. During the last three decades, for example, organizations representing 1.5 million U.S. health professionals (doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and educators) have stated definitively that homosexual orientation is as natural as heterosexual orientation, that sexual orientation is determined by a combination of yet unknown pre- and post-natal influences, and that it is dangerous and inappropriate to tell a homosexual that he or she could or should attempt to change his or her sexual orientation.