Church of England still homophobic

One of the points of religion is that it is believed by its followers to be the word of God.

Thus, in the view of the church it is not up to a priest or pastor to pick and choose religious beliefs, and in doing so go against what they believe to be the command of God, based off of what suits them and makes them happy.

Therefore it is perfectly fine for the Church, and its many millions of followers, to stick to the Christian belief that marriage is a ritual performed between man and woman. In no way does refusing to alter ones religious values based off of popular demand or societal changes constitute homophobia, and it is equally your duty to respect the religious beliefs of others as it is the duty of a Christian to respect your value as a human being, and by holding to their traditional views on gay marriage/ gay intercourse, they are in no way discriminating against you or refusing to accept that members of the LGBT community should be treated equally with respect or love.

Billions* but 👏👏👏👏

I didn’t mention Wikipedia. If you use Google you can find a variety of definitions from reputable sources. If you were writing an essay, which source would you use to back up your claim that homophobia means the irrational fear of gay people? If your claim is only based on the word “phobia” then you’ll get 0/20.

This is all so silly - you know what the accepted definition is and I don’t know why you’re arguing.

One of the points of religion is that it is believed by its followers to be the word of God.

Thus, in the view of the church it is not up to a priest or pastor to pick and choose religious beliefs, and in doing so go against what they believe to be the command of God, based off of what suits them and makes them happy.

Therefore it is perfectly fine for the Church, and its many millions of followers, to stick to the Christian belief that marriage is a ritual performed between man and woman. In no way does refusing to alter ones religious values based off of popular demand or societal changes constitute homophobia, and it is equally your duty to respect the religious beliefs of others as it is the duty of a Christian to respect your value as a human being, and by holding to their traditional views on gay marriage/ gay intercourse, they are in no way discriminating against you or refusing to accept that members of the LGBT community should be treated equally with respect and kindness.

This is a debate thread, if you decide that you don't want to continue participating in debates you know what to do.
On social media you are guaranteed to encounter alternative viewpoints to your own and will never be able to persuade everyone to agree with you.
If you want someone you will be able to train to echo all your opinions and definitions, get yourself a pet parrot keen on human speech repetition.

My essays only relate to theology or legal argument/analysis.
I use the "irrational fear" based sources & definitions of Dr. George Weinberg, the american man who coined the term "homophobia", and also cite the verbatim accepted definitions/case precedents of serving members of the usa judiciary who are qualified for trial inclusion.
I am deliberately not quoting any of them because I will not facilitate the use of the 'gay panic defence'.
Nor provide a route for a savvy inexperienced lawyer to use: either for the purpose of obtaining a dismissal of usa hate crime charges on behalf of a gay bashing hate criminal or personally to join the network of very successful bible belt lawyers who make their living keeping violent gay bashing liars out of prison.
If you are genuinely interested in the 'fear and irrationality perspective', you can access Dr. George Weinberg's journal
articles or buy his books.

It's not really a surprise though is it? I mean the CofE are unlikely to change their views suddenly having believed what 'God' says about marriage only being heterosexual since the bible was written. I totally believe they should change their views but considering they are sticking to what their religious book says that's unlikely to happen anytime soon...

As someone who does not like organised religion, I strongly encourage the Bishops at the Church of England to continue issuing such advice. It is the kind of moralising that results in dwindling congregations and empty churches.

Remember boys and girls that equality isn't a one way thing - the religious beliefs of the church hold as much value as the opposing views of the LBGT community.

Would I be classed as 'homophobic' if I didn't agree with gay marriage?

If so, why is this nation allowing the Leader of the House, Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP to hold such a position in government? He doesn't agree with gay marriage as he's quite openly said. He is a devout Catholic and abides by their rulings.

If you answer yes to the question I posed above, you're calling over half the population 'homophobic', considering 56% of the world are either followers of Christianity or Islam, both of which condemn gay marriage.

If a minute proportion of the world is Vegan, it doesnt mean the entire world must agree to or adopt the vegan diet lmfao. Why should I be flogged for saying Vegan diets are dangerous and shouldn't be followed for Health purposes?

Our church gets 300+ every Sunday and at least 60% of them would be 0-25, with about 50 of them probably fitting into your 16-25 year old bracket. That’s one church.
A different type of CofE is appearing and attracting people, young, vibrant, family oriented churches - think guitars, drums, electric guitars etc. These are the types of churches that attract people now religion just has to (and parts are) adapting with the times

actually the meaning of 'phobia' does matter.
In many criminal cases, it has been the difference between a judicial/jury finding of innocence or guilt at the criminal trial of a gay basher on hate crime charges. All confusion and dishonesty only benefits the worst of bad apples.

I'm not in the habit of relying on google or wikipedia content.
If you are and are happy to cite such information on uni essays or professional assignments- good luck.

If you opposed equal rights for LGBT people then yes, you would be homophobic.

As for the final line, you fail to make any sort of sensible parallel. Vegans existing doesn't mean you have to be vegan, nor does people being gay mean you have to be. Don't like veganism? don't be a vegan. Don't like gay marriage? Don't marry a person of the same gender as you - problem solved. However, people who oppose gay marriage don't stop there - they actually attempt to force their beliefs onto everyone else (which is what you're claiming comes from the LGBTQ community in a solid example of projection), they're not gay and wouldn't want to marry someone of the same gender, so no-one should be allowed to either.

Religious beliefs hold value to those who believe in the religion. Why should anyone else value them?

So I don't have the right to dislike Vegans? I don't have a right to say no one should follow a vegan diet, unless their religion compels them to?

If you're so adament on drawing 'final lines', say with your chest out that all Christians and Muslims are 'homophobes'? Because Christians and Muslims follow Christianity and Islam respectively, and both religions strictly prohibit gay marriage. Don't be fooled by those saying 'orthodox', 'Conservative' etc. Those are people who are picking and choosing from their true religion. Do you expect people to shake off their true belief because of what you and society believe is correct? Lmao, if you expect more than half the population of the world to conform to your beliefs and drop their religion's rulings, then you are truly delusional.

You don't have the right to discriminate against vegans based on their diet, deny them rights or insist they are wrong to be vegan, just as you don't have the right to deny gay people rights, to harass them for their sexuality/gender identity or discriminate against them...

Not every christian or muslim is homophobic because not every christian or muslim disagrees with gay rights. Hell, most of the stuff that's taken to be anti homosexuality in christianity is from Paul, and he was just a weird prude, not the core message of Jesus. Jesus' core message being one of tolerance and acceptance of your fellow man (except bankers, man was big into whipping them and rightly so).

Some of these people can try to disguise their hogwash as equality but what they're actually trying to get is superiority.