Justin Welby Quotes
It is absolutely right for the state to define the rights and status of people cohabiting in different forms of relationships, including civil partnerships.
Welby, Justin. "Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill." Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), House of Lords, 3 June 2013, col. 936.
His view was that since gay marriage did not affect anyone else but the gay couple, it should not be illegal. This is an early Thomas Jefferson idea (see {604940} ) where Jefferson argues that since it does not effect him or anyone else if a person worships 20 gods or none, he and society has no business legislating against it. Those on the opposite side argued that if someone was an atheist or a pagan, it damaged the culture as a whole and offended their sense of morality. Therefore there must be a state religion. In modern times we are debating the same principle only gay marriage is the subject. Should the majority moral view control all or only those things that directly and negatively affect other people and not their moral sensibilities.
Justin Portal Welby is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury and the most senior bishop in the Church of England. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and most recently was the Bishop of Durham, serving for just over a year. Ex officio, he is the Primate of All England and the head primus inter pares in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
