Children Need Fathers

A recent change in UK law means that women in same-sex relationships can now register both their names on the birth certificate of a child conceived as a result of fertility treatment.

Instead of the usual allocation of one mother and one father, one would suppose that the child would therefore have two mothers in the sight of the law.  However, this will not be the case: a birth certificate will be used which, instead of having a ‘mother’ and a ‘father’ section, with have two ‘parent’ sections.

Nearly two years ago, Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, spoke out against plans to make IVP treatment available to single women and lesbians:-

Children need parents of both genders.  Particularly, boys need fathers for the sake of security, identity and masculinity and relating to people of the same sex and the other sex. Having a child is not a right. What we have to do is consider the welfare of the child.

This statement prompted one critic, Jess Wood, to respond:-

If the Bishop of Rochester was a woman I don’t think he would make such an insensitive statement. Most women want to be mothers and lesbians are no different from any other woman.

With Bishop Nazir-Ali, I think we have to agree that the absence of fathers has a huge effect on social dysfunction.  This is not to ignore the immense courage of single mothers who strive to bring up children alone, but become a single parent through force of circumstance is very different to deliberatley setting out policy where the intention is to bring children into the world without a father in sight.

CMS rethinks Greenbelt seminars

This year’s Greenbelt festival is causing concern in some quarters because of the plans to welcome as a speaker the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson. Greenbelt will also give a platform to other gay rights campaigners such as the Rev Giles Fraser and worship groups OuterSpace and Journey.

By way of response, the Church Mission Society is considering holding seminars in which the orthodox view of human sexuality will be promoted.

One thing that intrigued me about all of this was a comment by the Rev Sharon Fergusson, spokesperson for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. While welcoming ‘open discussion’, the Rev Fergusson added,

if it is being done in a way in which homosexuality is considered as wrong then I would have concerns about that sort of thing which, as I have said before, leads to homophobia.

Well, that’s a discussion-stopper if ever there was one. What is being claimed here is that if people disagree with a certain kind of behaviour then they will necessarily end up hating or fearing those who engage in that behaviour. That’s absurd. And you don’t need a certificate in logic, or even in common sense, to see that it’s absurd.

As reported in Church of England Newspaper, 7th August 2009

Jesus is Lord – of Money, Sex and Power

Tom Wright has an interesting comment on the lordship of Christ.

He reminds us that the three great prophets of late modernity were Marx, Freud and Nietzsche.  What does Paul’s gospel say about their great themes: money, sex and power?

Homosexual Relationships 5

This is the last in a short series of post on this subject.  I’m summarising John Stott’s discussion in Issues Facing Christians Today.

Homosexual Relationships 4

Continuing this short series based on Stott’s discussion in Issues Facing Christians Today.

Homosexual Relationships 3

This is the third in a short series of post based on material in John Stott’s Issues Facing Christians Today.

Homosexual Relationships 2

Continuing this series of posts based on Stott’s discussion of same-sex relationships in his helpful Issues Facing Christians Today.

Homosexual Relationships 1

I hesitate to contribute anything on this subject, discussion of which tends generate more heat than light.  But perhaps if only to demonstrate that there is a way of seeking to be faithful to Scripture which does not amount to a homophobic rant, I offer the following, which is based on John Stott’s helpful discussion in Issues Facing Christians Today.

The Body – a Story of Repression

It is often supposed that the Christian faith has had, down the years, an overwhelmingly repressive attitude towards the human body.  This ’story of repression’ is discussed by Philip Sampson in his book Six Modern Myths Challenging Christian Faith, (a book that deserves to be better known, I think).  Here are some of the things that Sampson has to say.