Australian Archbishop compares same-sex marriage to incest
(ABC News)
One of the most prominent Christians in Australia has rejected the idea that same-sex couples can experience the same love as heterosexual couples.
The ongoing non-binding postal survey is enabling Australians to cast their vote to determine whether the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry.
But the Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge has said that the love between same-sex couples “is more like that of friends,” adding that they should not be allowed to marry.
(Wikimedia Commons)
“That love is like the love of friends,” he said on ABC News.
“It is love and it is valuable but it’s not and it can’t be the kind of love that we call marriage,’ he continued.
The Archbishop claimed that an ongoing prohibition on same-sex marriage was acceptable because incestuous marriage is illegal.
Coleridge said: “Parents can’t marry their children, children can’t marry their parents.
“Sibling marrying sibling has always been ruled out. People underage have been disqualified from marrying but so too people of the same sex.”
He also said there was a “slippery slope” of language being used in the marriage equality debate, using his religion to defend his stance on the issue.
“I am concerned to clarify the language and I don’t think it’s enough to say that ‘love is love,’ he said.
“There’s only one form of love, the many forms of love that we call marriage and that is between a man and a woman, supposedly lifelong and supposedly open to children,” he continued.
Coleridge has said that he is aware that not all Catholics agree with his opinions.
(ABC News)
“There are Catholics who will vote yes and Catholics who will vote no,” he said.
A poll has shown that the majority of Christians in the country support same-sex marriage.
And Peter Black, director of the Queensland Equality Campaign, had said that he believes the majority of Catholics and Australians saw same-sex love as equal to opposite-sex love.
(Getty)
“The Archbishop of Brisbane and his views today don’t represent the views of the majority of Catholics across this country,” he said.
“The polling shows that the majority of Catholics […] rightly support marriage equality.”
