Hi Stanza,

Thanks for your post.

I attended Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Baulkham Hills for over 14 years. At the start it was awesome. I became a confirmed Anglican and our church was moving towards a more pentecostal feel rather than the traditional teachings of the Anglican church.

That being said, being out in the church was something that was discouraged, even when I began to tell people. I tend to put this more down to those I told not really understanding the way I felt and how to deal with it, so they fell back on more conservative biblical teaching.

Over the years though, I saw the Sydney Angican church become more worried about sticking to the letter of the law rather than showing love and compassion to people who were struggling, and not just LGBTI people, but anyone who was hurting. They often chose not to deal with peoples issues directly and encourage them to seek outside help with the "support" of the church.

The main problems lie with the church leadership. My friend worked as an assistant to the minister for over 11 years. He counselled many people in helping to save their marriages, ran successful youth groups and bible studies for young adults and was an awesome speaker on most Sunday nights.

A bible student attending the church toward the end of his ministry became pretty jealous at what my friend was able to accomplish. He along with several other weak minded people in the church convinced the minister that my friend was having an affair, and so the minister began to put pressure on him to resign. Some of the church elders even sent people around to his house to convince his wife to leave him. After an exhausting year in which he was investigated by the Anglican Professional Standard Unit, as well as being followed by a private investigator hired by the church (using peoples tithes no doubt), they found he'd done nothing wrong. However the stress had become too much and he eventually was forced to resign.

It's because of this un-Christian behaviour I no longer go to any church. Not because they are all bad, and I'm not saying there aren't people in churches who are genuine and loving, but simply just because I can't bring myself to trust anything that church leadership says.

I just came across an article written by our beloved Archbishop Peter Jensen, where he makes some very interesting and some would say, some very valid points. Unfortunately, I only have a hard copy of the article, found the the Family World News Magazine put out by our beloved Fred Nile 🙂

So you will have to trust me on this one 🙂

Here is one quote that I found interesting and perhaps, even valid.

1.

"In fact all of us oppose "marriage equality" if that means it is the right of everyone to marry anyone they choose. We may not marry a minor, for example, even if we want to and if the minor and his/her parents agree. There is a relevant difference. Nor may we marry a person already married. Bigamy is a crime, even if all parties agrees to it. Likewise, siblings may not marry, even if they are past the age of having children. If "marriage equality" was meaningful, it should encompass all these possibilities. It does not.

Interested to know what others think.

Actually – there are a number of logical fallacies…..

and people with weak arguments (like Jensen) often use them.

Its really worth being aware of them and

1) Don't use them – its unethical (and wrong) if done deliberately and just plain sad if done because you don't know better (Jensen knows better) and

2) Dont be taken in by them when others use them.

I have seen on FB a really good chart on this – but it was ages ago and I dont know a good way to find really old stuff that others post on FB….

so for now this will have to do

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_fallacy

Hear is another Chart – not the one I remember – but still might be better for some

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/rhetological-fallacies/

And THIS is the one I remember

https://s3.amazonaws.com/yourlogicalfallacyis/pdf/LogicalFallaciesInfographic_A1.pdf

Totally agree with what others have said. The lawyer in me notes that the right to marry in international law applies only to those of marriageable age who consent to the marriage. Obviously that rules out children, animals and pot plants. Also agree that Jensen knows what's meant by marriage equality. He's being disingenuous.

My father was an Anglican minister in Sydney :-s

Oh Wow – That opening Song brings back memories – its going to be going through my head ALL day

I have to say – I am not a great Fan of the Sydney Anglicans – but I think this issue a bit of a storm in a tea cup

This is NOT compulsory. You can get married – Anglican and not use those words (Im not sure if you can do so in Jensen's church but you can get married in other dioceses).

I would object if this was mandatory for EVERY marriage ceremony but its not… its not even for every Anglican marriage… so If a couple thinks thats what they want – Good on them. Thats the great thing about Freedom of Religion (ironically – Sydney Anglicans wont allow freedom of Religion to us – but we cant expect it from them and deny it to them at the same time)