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Carnley's Latest Comments
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Tony
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Feb 25, 2004 14:08 PST
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Church must accept gays: Carnley
The Anglican church must accept the reality that same sex relationships
existed and work out how it would tackle the issue, Archbishop Peter
Carnley said.
Dr Carnley, the Primate of the Anglican church, said while he understood
some of the reasons why US President George Bush was seeking to ban
same-sex marriages, there was a reality that needed to be addressed.
"Gay relationships certainly exist, and whilst some heterosexual people
might say that those relationships are unnatural, if you talk to the gay
people themselves they'll say what's unnatural to them is a heterosexual
relationship," Dr Carnley told the ABC's Lateline program.
"I think the churches have got to look again at the biblical material,
they've got to look at the natural law argument and just think through
the whole issue."
Dr Carnley said one way to address the highly divisive issue might be to
withdraw the use of the term "marriage" for the unions, suggesting the
word was not helping homosexual people's cause.
"I don't know of too many (gay people) who want to see themselves as
husbands or wives for example, I think it's a much more equal
relationship of friends," he said.
Perhaps, Dr Carnley suggested, the church could examine the possibility
of blessing "monogamous, committed, gay relationships" as friendships.
"I think there's nothing wrong with blessing friendships, I think that's
perfectly right, but that avoids the moral question of what happens in
terms of behaviour within those relationships," he said.
Dr Carnley said the reasons many homosexual couples sought such a
"marriage" were to secure property rights, inheritance, superannuation,
and next-of-kin rights.
"To register a relationship for those purposes I think is understandable
but I don't think you have to use the term marriage of it," he said.
However Dr Carnley said it wasn't just same-sex marriages which required
broader contemplation.
"I think there's so much divorce and fractured relationships and de
facto relationships, and disinclination to commit at all, I think that's
probably more serious than what's happening amongst gay people," he
said.
İAAP 2004
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