Ludwig wrote:-
//I still don't understand what the church is objecting to. If a marriage isn't a specifically religious thing - which it can't be because people get married in registry offices as well as chuches then..
a) What's their problem? //
it's to do with the church's Canon Law, specifically this:-
"B30 Of Holy Matrimony
1. The Church of England affirms, according to our Lord's teaching, that marriage is in its nature a union permanent and lifelong, for better for worse, till death them do part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side, for the procreation and nurture of children, for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections, and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity."
if the government amends the legislation concerning marriage to include same-sex couples, civil law would then be at odds with canon law. and, whilst Mr Cameron asserts that the church woild be granted an exemption, his own legal advisers have told him such an exemption would be ruled offside, in terms of discrimination AND human rights legislation.
ultimately, this may cause the church to break its ties with the establishment - meaning that they would no longer act as marriage "agents" of the state, so a marriage in church would have no legal standing, as applies currently to islamic ceremonies; but perhaps better, it will see the end of the church sitting in the house of lords.