Do Christians really oppose gay marriage? Thursday, 18 April 2013 Duration 21:20 GCSE
AQA
Edexcel
OCR
WJEC
A level
AQA
Edexcel
OCR
WJEC
Religious
Religious
Religious
Religious
Religious
Religious
Religious
Studies
Studies
Studies
Studies
Studies
Studies
Studies
A: Unit 2
B: Unit 3
Units 1-7
A: B603, B604
B: B603, B604
A: Units 1, 3, 6-8
B: Unit 1
Religious
Religious
Religious
Religious
Religious
Studies:
Studies:
Studies:
Studies:
Studies:
A2 Unit 3A
Units 1-4
Unit G582
RS 1/2 CS
RS 1/2 ETH
This is a Faith debate featuring Charles Clarke, John Gummer, John Milbank, Stephen Holmes, Tina Beattie, Steve Chalke and Linda Woodhead. It focuses on the Marriage (Same-­‐Sex Couples) Act which was going through parliament at the time. The poll carried out prior to the debate shows that by a small majority the people polled were in favour of permitting same sex marriage. Among religious adherents there were a smaller proportion in favour but not far off 50/50. The largest proportions in favour were Presbyterians, Jews and Hindus. The largest proportions opposed were Baptists and Muslims. Students could be given the same questions and asked to write down their responses prior to watching the debate, revisiting them later to see if any of the views expressed had caused them to change their minds. All the people polled were 18+ so it could be worth comparing both the initial and final views of students with the YouGov results to see if there are any indications that young people, possibly more ‘modern’ in their outlook, give very different answers to the questions. This programme is suitable for use with A level and GCSE students studying ethics, sexual relationships and Christianity. Survey questions and findings: •
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Online survey Total sample size 4,437 adults Fieldwork undertaken 25th -­‐ 30th January 2013 The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+) Allowed ALL to get married? Should 52 No Anglican RC religion Presbyterian Methodist Baptist Religion TOTAL 69 49 43 44 44 32 40 Should NOT Don’t know Allowed to get married Right Wrong Don’t know 34 20 43 41 44 45 50 43 14 11 14 15 7 23 11 14 Anglican Methodist Baptist Jewish Hindu Muslim Gen Popn 44 43 14 32 45 23 52 38 10 55 26 19 29 59 12 52 34 14 40 50 11 •
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Most common reason given by Christians who say gay marriage is RIGHT: o “People should be treated equally whatever their sexual orientation” (77%) Most common reason given by Christians who say gay marriage is WRONG: o “Marriage should be between a man and a woman” (79%) The debate is quite heated with ‘traditional’ Christian views fighting against more ‘liberal’ opinions. Most of the standard arguments are rehearsed e.g. marriage must be between a man and a woman, marriage is for procreation. These are of course countered by arguments about equality etc. A key point is made by Steve Chalke. He himself is an evangelical Baptist in favour of gay marriage. The point is that as he cannot, as a Baptist minister (in common with all Christian ministers in the UK except Anglicans) register a wedding which means that there has to be a registry office service and then he carries out the religious ceremony. Therefore marriage is not simply a religious concept, the majority of people who are married have a registry office ceremony. The Church does not oppose these people being married even though there is often no religious basis to the ceremony, so why oppose gay marriage. As always, after watching the discussion, it is worth returning to the students’ responses to find out if and how their personal opinions have been influenced or changed by what they have heard. For 6th formers it might well be possible to watch the discussion straight through, however, for younger students it might be advisable to watch each segment at a time (there are clear breaks between each part). After discussion, it would then be worth watching the two-­‐minute summary to clarify and crystallize the thoughts and views expressed. A pdf of the statistics used (which can be turned into a PowerPoint) is available on the webpage under Resources.