Ahead of a vote on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, leading think tank ResPublica has launched a green paper in Parliament opposing the proposed legislation.
The document called Marriage: Union for the future or contract for the present, written by Phillip Blond, Director of ResPublic, and professor Roger Scruton, highlights how the institution of marriage is under threat and why it should be defended.
Eroding marriage
“What’s wrong with same sex marriage is that actually it’s part of the culture of change that’s actually eroding marriage because it’s based on this partnership model that says it’s just between you and me,” said Mr Blond.
He added: “Marriage is under threat because of the notion of a partnership that’s stripped of children, stripped of the responsibility for wider society. The paper is a re-statement of the meaning, purpose and direction of marriage explaining why society needs it, why it’s good for children, why it’s good for women and why it’s the most progressive and most conservative institution we have.”
Media phenomenon
While all MPs have received the paper, it is also intended to be distributed to every legislator in the House of Lords.
Mr Blond says that the green paper has already had significant newspaper and social media coverage:
“The response has been quite phenomenal. Just from our website the paper has had over 2,000 re-tweets and Facebook shares. It was in all the newspapers yesterday. So as a publication it’s been successful and it’s been welcomed by people on both sides of the debate,” he said.
Potential sackings
As well as the threat to the institution of marriage, Mr Blond expressed his concerns over the impact of the proposed legislation on church leaders and Christian lay workers.
He said: “The real issue is if this bill is passed there will be many priests and people in various positions like prison chaplains, who will be forced against their conscience to abide by these provisions. We’ll see sackings and disciplinary actions like the many cases we’ve already seen.”
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