Church cautious on gay marriage
2004-12-02 19:19
Cape Town - Christianity's core teachings do not explicitly prohibit validation of same-sex relationships, SA Council of Churches general secretary Molefe Tsele said on Thursday.
He urged religious leaders to respond "cautiously" to this week's appeal court ruling that the common law definition of marriage must be developed to include same-sex partners.
Most christian churches have reacted negatively to the ruling, and on Wednesday Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane described same sex marriages as unchristian.
Tsele said the traditions and teachings of the church had not recognised same-sex marriages.
He said: "However, the core teachings of christianity do not explicitly prohibit the validation of faithful, loving same-sex relationships."
Explaining natural phenomena
His deputy, Eddie Makue, who issued the statement on his behalf, said the word "validation" was not interchangeable with "marriage".
He said: "Marriage has become a loaded word. "We are trying to find other terms that are not as loaded and will keep the debate open."
Tsele said the Biblical texts most frequently cited by those who condemned homosexual relationships were informed by the dominant understanding of the world and human nature at the time they were written.
"These passages cannot readily be applied to contemporary society anymore than ancient ways of explaining natural phenomena should be used to dismiss the results of centuries of scientific inquiry."
"We would not wish to align ourselves with such selective and simplistic interpretations of scripture, especially in the light of the Gospel's central emphasis on Christ's equal love and concern for all God's children and his particular compassion for the poor and marginalised."
He said marriage had never been a static concept.
The Bible mentioned different forms of marriage; many of the most important figures in the Hebrew scriptures such as King Solomon practised polygamy, which had also been rejected by most christian traditions.
Religious, legal aspects of marriage
He urged those who were critical of the appeal court ruling not to be disrespectful of the Constitution, but noted that the Constitution was "way ahead" of most churches on many issues.
He asked whether it would be better to separate the religious and legal aspects of marriage, so that the state "could fulfil its constitutional obligations to recognise relationships equally through some form of civil union".
This would leave faith communities to celebrate such unions through marriage ceremonies, in keeping with their respective traditions.
Rhema Ministries Pastor Ray McCauley said his church could not agree with same sex marriages.
He said "However if two people with the same sexual orientation choose to legalise their partnership and live in a monogamous relationship then we must respect that decision
- SAPA