Marriage Bill - Open letter from Church Leaders
Media Release
11 March
2013
Marriage Bill - Open letter from
Church Leaders to Members of Parliament
We urgently call on Members of Parliament to uphold the definition of marriage as held in human societies across the world for thousands of years, that marriage is between a man and a woman.
We ask Members of Parliament to
consider:
a. The degree of opposition to the
bill
b. The shameful process for dealing with the
bill
c. The many strong arguments against the
bill
d. The likelihood of discrimination against those
who disagree with the bill
A. A secular study has
shown that more than 20% of New Zealanders (over 800,000
people) attend Church on a regular basis. Not only do
studies indicate that Christians make a significant
contribution to this nation, but as the statement by Church
leaders last August showed, there is an unprecedented level
of consensus among the churches against this bill. On this
issue, we believe our view accords with the position of the
majority of New Zealanders, many of whom are deeply upset
that Parliament is even considering this change.
B.
For a bill that was not in any party’s manifesto, and the
effect of which would be to make such a radical change to a
foundational institution of our society, to be forced
through by a process which has lasted barely a few months,
and contrary to the deep beliefs and values of a very large
proportion of this country's people, is shameful and totally
inconsistent with the spirit of democracy. A recent
newspaper article has also highlighted the strong bias of
the Select Committee against those who made submissions
opposed to the bill.
C. We do not intend to repeat
here all of the arguments made in the written and oral
submissions. Suffice to say, the definition of marriage
does not need to be changed to ensure equal rights for
people in same-sex relationships. In fact, equality
already exists, (with the main exception of adoption,
which is so important that it really needs to be debated as
a separate issue).
D. If Parliament passes this bill
into law, then overseas experience strongly suggests that
state pressure will eventually be brought to bear against
people’s freedom of conscience and speech.
We ask
therefore that you include clear and specific protection in
the bill for these freedoms as guaranteed in the Bill of
Rights Act 1990 and Human Rights Act 1993 so that there will
be no confusion with Section 56 in the Marriage Act which
makes it “an offence” for any person to express the
belief that “lawfully married persons” are not “truly
and sufficiently” married.
We suggest an extension to
Clause 56 along the lines of...
“Notwithstanding
Parliament's provision for people of the same gender to be
legally married to each other, as a reflection of
Parliament's commitment to diversity and equality, in the
same way freedom of belief and freedom of expression in
relation to marriage shall be fully protected, and any
person or organisation shall retain the right to hold the
belief (on cultural, religious, or other grounds) that
marriage should only be between opposite sexes, and persons
and organisations holding or respectfully expressing such a
belief may not be discriminated against in any way or forced
to act against their own cultural or religious
beliefs.”
We maintain however that the proper
course of action for Parliament is to reject this bill, or
at the very least hold a Royal Commission of Enquiry
followed by a referendum.
Signed by (partial list) …
- Rev. Andrew Marshall (National Director, Alliance Churches of New Zealand)
- Rev. Illiafi Esera (Assemblies of God, Superintendent)
-
Rev. Craig Vernall (Baptist, National
Leader)
- Archbishop John Dew (Catholic Bishop of Wellington)
- Rev. Ray Coster (Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand)
-
Mr. Brent Liebezeit (President of Christian
Churches New Zealand)
-
Pastor Dr Brian Hughes (Calvary
Chapel)
- Mr. Peter Eccles
(Chairman, Auckland Congregational Union churches)
- Rev. Dr Neville Bartle (National Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene)
- Pastor Mike Griffiths (Elim, National Leader)
- Mr. Glyn Carpenter (Director, New Zealand Christian Network)
- Pastor Ken
Harrison (Harvest Christian Church Papakura,
AOGNZ)
- Rev. Dr Stuart Lange (Presbyterian; Senior Lecturer, Laidlaw College)
- Rev. Steve Maina (Anglican, New Zealand Church Missionary Society)
- Pastor Sam Monk (Equippers Church, Auckland)
- Pastor Peter Mortlock (Senior Pastor City Impact Church)
- Pastor Rasik Ranchord (New Life Churches International
- Pastor Lloyd Rankin (National Director, Vineyard Churches Aotearoa New Zealand)
- Pastor Dean Rush (National Leader, C3 Churches of New Zealand)
- Rev. Dr. Richard Waugh QSM (National Superintendent, Wesleyan Methodist)