Friday, June 08, 2012

Denmark legalizes gay marriage in the state church

The news reports on this are particularly bad. HuffPo is simply saying that gay couples can now legally marry in a church. On the other end of the bad reporting spectrum, the Telegraph is reporting that gay couples have the right to marry in any church of their choice. Neither story is accurate or complete. The reality as far as I have been able to discern is that gay couples can demand to be married in a church starting on June 15th.. But the new law only applies to the official Lutheran Church which is effectively a department of the government. Individual clergy can refuse, but the bishop must find a replacement. It is worth noting that the minister of religion in the Danish government is a self described agnostic.

HT: Dr. Tighe

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have a German friend, who got a degree in Theology at a prestigious German university. However, he himself is agnostic-borderline-atheist. He told me that according to German law, he can legitimately be given a position as a parish pastor, if he so chose, since pastors are considered government bureaucrats there, receiving full government benefits and a pension. Fortunately, he's honest enough to choose NOT to be a pastor, due to his lack of faith. He works in banking instead.... HA!