"The Church of England has warned that proposals to legalise gay marriage could undermine its status. It says giving civil ceremonies the status of marriage would "alter the intrinsic nature of marriage as the union of a man and a woman". The Home Office said religious bodies would not have to conduct gay marriages but the Church also fears this could be challenged in European courts. Gay rights campaigners accuse the Church of "scaremongering". Civil partnerships were introduced in 2005 to give same-sex couples the same legal rights as married couples, but the law does not allow such unions to be referred to as marriages. Responding to a consultation in England and Wales, the Church of England said government proposals to allow same-sex marriages by 2015 would "alter the intrinsic nature of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, as enshrined in human institutions throughout history". It said marriage acknowledged "an underlying biological complementarity which, for many, includes the possibility of procreation". Justice Minister Crispin Blunt said the government was making proposals "around marriage in the eyes of the state" The Church claims that plans to exempt religious organisations from performing gay marriages would be unlikely to survive legal challenges in domestic and European courts. As such, the government's consultation exercise, which closes on Thursday, was "flawed, conceptually and legally", it added. Tory MP Crispin Blunt conceded the government's aim "to protect, indeed proscribe, religious organisations from offering gay marriage" may be "problematic legally". "But the proposal the government are putting forward is that marriage should be equal in the eyes of the state - whether it's between a same-sex couple or a man and a woman," he told BBC One's Breakfast. Continue reading the main story Analysis Robert Pigott Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News By highlighting the possible loss of its role as a principal provider of marriages, and... more... - Winckel from Bookmarklet

I think so too. A good thing for everyone, average joe and nutjob alike. - Winckel

Their unfounded fear reminds me of the time the first automobiles hit the roads, with a guy walking ahead, waving a red flag as a warning of this oncoming danger. It didn't stop the growing popularity of vehicles and now we just think of it as silly. - Stephan Planken from iPhone