The …[groups] opposing the change have been, in the main, religious. Behind the Coalition for Marriage, which is running a petition, are evangelical Christian organisations. The Catholic Church – where last weekend a judicious bishops’ letter opposing the change was read to more than a million congregants in 2,500 parishes across England and Wales – is the principal institutional campaigner, with the Archbishop of Canterbury also opposing the move.<\/p>\n
They have laid out their reasons carefully and moderately, noting that marriage is a conjugal relationship of a man and a woman apt for the begetting of children who are raised by their natural parents; that this arrangement is both unique and uniquely beneficial to society and to children; and that there is something inappropriate about the state even claiming to have the power by law to redefine it.<\/p>\n
They have been careful to point out how little this is about “gay” or anyone else’s rights (we would need to have the same debate if the call were for polygamy, or for siblings to marry) but about the meaning of marriage, and whether it should be preserved or altered.<\/p>\n