"Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed."

Mathew 8:8

The Church of England will today hold a debate on the role of female priests and the ordination of gay clergy which is supposed to decide the future of the Anglican Church. Yet the very fact that it is even having the debate is evidence that the Church does not have a future in Great Britain. In an age when the British public are so highly educated, open, tolerant and savvy, a debate about the role of women and gays exposes the Church as being hopelessly behind contemporary attitudes, lifestyles and morals.

I’m fairly certain that there is no supreme being in charge of the universe, the same way I’m fairly certain that Stoke City won’t win the premiership next season. I did, however, have the dubious pleasure of attending Catholic schools for 14 years and I’m the proud holder of C grade in GCSE Religious Education. Now I’m certainly no theological expert but I can quote plenty of biblical examples that support the ordination of gays and women. Homosexuality may well be a sin, but aren’t all humans inveterate sinners? The message repeated again and again in the New Testament is that God forgives sinners whether they are thieves on the cross, Roman Centurions or tax collectors. If gays are banned from serving the church then surely all sinners, which means all men and women, should also be banned. Furthermore Jesus always made a point of helping those who were outcasts from mainstream society, such as gentiles and lepers. If a human wants to serve their God what does it matter whether they are gay or female? If God was so concerned about homosexuality why didn’t He mention it in the Ten Commandments?

When the scientific progress of The Enlightenment exposed the fact that the bible could not be taken literally, the Church conveniently shifted its position and posited that it was a work of metaphors and allegories. Yet the Church has consistently failed to follow Jesus’ underlying message of universal love and it is quite clear that many clergymen use the bible to cloak their own bigoted beliefs. Perhaps it is time that the clergy start to take lessons in morality from their own congregations, who certainly seem to be following Jesus’ teachings rather better than they do.