Thursday 4 July 2013

Final chance to stop anti-marriage bill

The "same-sex marriage" bill is in its final stages. Peers (members of the House of Lords) will debate the bill again on Monday 8 July and Wednesday 10 July, and finally on Monday 15 July. MPs are likely to consider the Lords amendments to the Bill on 16 or 17 July.

Action:

Please email/write to:
1) Peers
and
2) your MP
asking them and the government to stop the efforts to undermine marriage. This may be our last chance to lobby against the damaging (anti-)Marriage Same-Sex Couples bill reaching the statute book.

If you have previously volunteered for our Adopt a Peer project, please write to your allotted Peer. Otherwise please email political@spuc.org.uk with "Peers to Lobby" in the subject line and we will send you a suggested list of Peers to contact.  To confirm the name of your MP, visit www.spuc.org.uk/mps  - you can email your MP via the same webpage. To write to MPs by post the address is House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA. You can also telephone MPs via the House of Commons switchboard on 020 7219 3000.

Why oppose the redefinition of marriage:
  • Marriages will be weakened, and will come to seem pointless to many young couples
  • More unborn children will be conceived outside the protection of marriage, leaving them at greater risk of abortion
  • Schools will be made to teach counterfeit marriage
  • The central promises of marriage (about loyalty and faithfulness for life) will receive even less recognition and legal support than at present – damaging existing marriages
  • Clergy and other church representatives will come under attack if they uphold real marriage.
The government claims that the bill would make marriage stronger, and Peers and MPs have said that calling homosexual or lesbian couples "married" won’t affect others. 

However, during the House of Lords debate, Baroness Stowell, the Minister for the bill, said:
"marriage does not require the fidelity of couples. It is open to each couple to decide for themselves on the importance of fidelity within their own relationship."
She was referring here to real (i.e. man-woman) marriages.

Baroness Stowell’s view of the law is highly questionable, and it belittles the importance of fidelity. She was attacking the promise which is at the heart of marriage in law, religion and society. This statement suggests that wider moves to undermine lasting, faithful marriages could follow in future. Please speak out and pray now for this bill to be stopped.

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
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