Petition against same-sex marriage
David Cameron is to face a mass petition opposing plans to launch a “hostile strike” on the traditional view of marriage, campaigners have said.
Christian groups backed by former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey said they were sending 175,000 emails out this week inviting people to sign a petition opposing the introduction of same-sex marriage.
The group Coalition for Marriage (C4M) has said the Government has no democratic mandate to introduce the legislation and has betrayed a promise made by the last Labour administration to maintain a distinction between civil partnerships and marriage.
Lord Carey described plans to introduce same-sex marriage as a “hostile strike” and an act of “cultural and theological vandalism” against an institution dating back thousands of years.
“The avowed intention to widen the scope of marriage as we see before us is a hostile strike, which rather than strengthening marriage will destroy its meaning and diminish its importance drastically,” he told a news conference in central London.
“The legal and theological definition of marriage is that of a man and a woman in a lifelong relationship.
“The Government has many difficult duties to perform on behalf of the nation it is elected to serve. But it is not in its gift to alter such a fundamental relationship.”
He added: “This matter is so serious and so important for our nation – we cannot allow this act of cultural and theological vandalism to happen.”
The campaign, which has the backing of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, is opposed to Government plans to legislate for same-sex marriages by 2015.
A public consultation on how to make civil marriage available to same-sex couples is to be launched next month.
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