Originally Posted by martyh

It is irrelevant whether we are talking about civil or religious marriage ,they are marriages ,as far as the church is concerned there is only one definition and no such thing as a civil marriage it is impossible .Religion has ultimate claim on marriage ,the government are seeking to redefine the word and remove the religious meaning



I think you will be hard pushed to find a C of E church that will refuse divorcees since the Synod made it 100% clear in a statement at the time of charles and camillas wedding that divorcees are allowed to be married in church

The C of E's main argument is that over the last few centuries they have allowed the religious importance and definition of marriage to be diluted to such an extent that many people do not even see it as having any religious meaning Now that Cameron wants to allow same sex marriage (being "civil" is irrelevant) it removes the religious meaning for all those who got married for religious reasons