A rough preface for an upcoming paper:
There appears, in contemporary England, to be two significant and intertwining developments: on the one hand, one sees the rapid growth of ‘new Atheism’, those fervent sceptics led by the ‘Four Horsemen’ that are Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and the late Hitchens. On the other, there appears to be the growing desire to see the complete stripping away of homosexual prejudices, both legally and psychologically. Resultantly, it is not uncommon for such New Atheists to take credit in championing the progressive attitudes towards homosexuality.[1] The Church, meanwhile, are donned with role of the ‘unenlightened’, doing what they can to limit such progression in order to protect the doctrine by which they believe the country should subscribe. Certainly, such attitudes have become regularly visible in mainstream media, be it through the reporting of the out-spoken Lord Carey in all of Britain’s most-read newspapers, or in the production of award-winning documentaries such as For The Bible Tells Me So and even the mainstream music industry, for example Macklemore’s ‘Same Love’, which reached number 1 in a variety of countries including England and Australia.
The link is certainly easy to make – one cannot help look back on those laws restricting the homosexual without wincing at the embarrassment of it all, and the established Church, with all their ‘outdated traditions’, provides a comforting scapegoat. Indeed, it is common knowledge that such laws themselves found their origin in Judeo-Christian doctrine. By nature, then, have they not always been opposed to laws providing greater rights and inclusion for the homosexual? The short answer, and the point I hope to express in this essay, is no. Rather, quite the opposite is true.
Looking at the period between Rev. Sherwin Bailey’s Homosexuality in the Western Christian Tradition 1954 and the passing of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, this paper will closely analyse the role played by three Church establishments of the upmost importance: the Anglo-Catholic Church, the Church of England, and the Quaker Society of Friends.[2]
It is not an aim of this paper to completely remove all blame from those Christian establishments often cited as attempting to curtail reformist attitudes. Certainly, there does exist many important members of the Church who may employ their influential position to lead others away from acceptance of homosexuality. The purpose, rather, is to challenge the commonly held view so clearly summarised by James Donovan that ‘the relationship between homophobia and religion … is clear, pervasive and reliable.’ Through the close analysis of the aforementioned establishments, I hope to unveil the largely unknown Church at the forefront of progressive and liberal reform.
[1] The recent passing of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 in particular is often regarded a proud accomplishment of New Atheist reformist politics in the face of traditionalists including former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey.
[2] Whilst officially the Anglo-Catholic Church is part of the Church of England itself, it suits the purpose of this paper to treat them as two distinct establishments, for their attitudes and actions regarding homosexual law reform differ. It should be noted that, particularly since the Oxford Movement of the 1940s, the Anglo-Catholic Church has become increasingly similar to Roman-Catholicism, with many members subscribing to papal authority and reinstituting Catholic traditions.
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