{"id":9206,"date":"2010-07-02T20:15:41","date_gmt":"2010-07-03T00:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/?p=9206"},"modified":"2010-07-02T20:15:41","modified_gmt":"2010-07-03T00:15:41","slug":"marriage-in-the-diocese-of-niagara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/marriage-in-the-diocese-of-niagara\/","title":{"rendered":"Marriage in the Diocese of Niagara"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not what it used to be. A comment from someone prompted me to take another look at the Niagara rite<\/a> of blessing of civil marriage: it would be used for the blessing of same-sex partners (one of whom has to be baptised \u2013 why?), but, presumably could be used to bless heterosexual civil unions too. We are assured in the introduction that the \u201crite is innovative\u201d<\/em> – and indeed it is as an excercise in maudlin sentimentality:<\/p>\n

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.
\nNow you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
\nNow, there is no more loneliness.
\nNow you are two persons, but there is one life ahead of you.
\nGo now to your dwelling to enter into the days of your life together
\nAnd may your days be good and long upon the earth<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From there it lurches recklessly into the assertion that same-sex attraction and its fulfilment is a sacred God-given gift and a bodily expression of Christ\u2019s perfect love:<\/p>\n

In your mercy you befriend those who wander in loneliness and shame, those oppressed because of difference, those who do not know the value of their unique and sacred gift; and by your Holy Spirit you awaken in them the dignity of humankind and the responsibility of embodied love, as perfected in Jesus Christ, who loved and gave himself for us, showing us the way to intimacy with you and with one another.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

None of which overshadows the Proclamation of the Word with its suggested secular readings. Here is one from Walt Whitman\u2019s Leaves of Grass, “We two boys together clinging\u201d <\/em>\u2013 a poem about gay love:<\/p>\n

WE two boys together clinging,
\nOne the other never leaving,
\nUp and down the roads going, North and South excursions making,
\nPower enjoying, elbows stretching, fingers clutching,
\nArm’d and fearless, eating, drinking, sleeping, loving.
\nNo law less than ourselves owning, sailing, soldiering, thieving,
\nthreatening,
\nMisers, menials, priests alarming, air breathing, water drinking, on
\nthe turf or the sea-beach dancing,
\nCities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness
\nchasing,
\nFulfilling our foray.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or the couple could select \u201cThe Road Goes Ever On\u201d<\/em>. While it works pretty well in Lord of the Rings, I wonder if the happy couple look forward to wading through the festering marshes of Emyn Muil, only to end up in Mount Doom where the bride will have his finger bitten off and thrown into the molten lava, ring and all.\u00a0 Although – maybe that\u2019s an apt metaphor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not what it used to be. A comment from someone prompted me to take another look at the Niagara rite of blessing of civil marriage: it would be used for the blessing of same-sex partners (one of whom has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[2111,1386],"class_list":["post-9206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diocese-of-niagara","tag-diocese-of-niagara","tag-same-sex-blessings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}