Posted on 09/13/2017 5:14:05 PM PDT by marshmallow
As Australia prepares for a contentious postal vote on legalising gay marriage, fierce divisions have emerged within the church, with many Christians disregarding traditional religious views as outdated.
Although attitudes to same-sex marriage vary across denominations and congregations -- and even between the pulpit and the pews -- many Australians view the church as the greatest source of resistance to such unions.
"I think it is really bad news for the church that it is seen as taking this exclusive, judgemental, unloving stance toward a significant part of the Australian community," Reverend Margaret Mayman, minister of the Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney, told AFP.
"There is obviously a huge gap between the leadership of some denominations and the people in the pews," she said.
A recent survey commissioned by equality advocates found two thirds of Catholics support gay marriage, as do 59 percent of Anglican, Uniting Church and Church of England followers.
Ballots have been dispatched to some 15 million Australians, with the voluntary poll due kick off Tuesday and close on November 7, with the result out later that month.
If most Australians say "yes", the government will hold a parliamentary vote on the issue, but no action will be taken in the event of a "no" outcome.
(Excerpt) Read more at sg.news.yahoo.com ...
Using the term “Gay Marriage” is taking sides in the debate.
The opposite would be “destruction of marriage”.
A neutral term would be “changing the definition of marriage”.
Unfortunately, this seems to add up to whomever wins this “postal” election (non-binding), will get their way once parliament votes on the issue and it seems the SSM side is going to win the postal election.
Of course, I’m no expert on how their politics works.
Yes, Christians in Australia are divided between the followers of the apostate church, and those who follow the Bible.
The postal ballot was neutral in it’s wording.
Both the Greek and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches I attend, the priests in each made it abundantly clear that a ‘NO’ vote is the right one.
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