Minister Sparks Outrage After Asking People To Pray For Prince George To Be Gay

Dave-W

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Minister Sparks Outrage After Asking People To Pray For Prince George To Be Gay

An Anglican minister is feeling the heat after a blog post in which he urged congregants to “pray in the privacy of their hearts” for Prince George to be gay went viral.

Very Rev. Kelvin Holdsworth, who belongs to the Scottish Episcopal Church, wrote the original post nearly two years ago. (A version was reposted on Jan. 27.) His words resurfaced on Twitter and in a number of media outlets ― including The New York Times, The Guardian and Time ― last week after the 4-year-old George’s uncle, Prince Harry, announced his engagement to American actress Meghan Markle.

The piece, “How to change the Church of England,” outlined Holdsworth’s take on how acceptance of same-sex marriage would be achieved. Though marriage equality was legalized in England and Wales in 2013, same-sex marriages are not recognized by the Church of England.

Holdsworth suggested that marriage equality advocates pray “for the Lord to bless Prince George with a love, when he grows up, of a fine young gentleman.”
 

Phil 1:21

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The piece, “How to change the Church of England,” outlined Holdsworth’s take on how acceptance of same-sex marriage would be achieved.
Perhaps the pastor needs to open his Bible and get back to "Thy will be done" instead of "My will be done."
 
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RDKirk

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Minister Sparks Outrage After Asking People To Pray For Prince George To Be Gay

An Anglican minister is feeling the heat after a blog post in which he urged congregants to “pray in the privacy of their hearts” for Prince George to be gay went viral.

Very Rev. Kelvin Holdsworth, who belongs to the Scottish Episcopal Church, wrote the original post nearly two years ago. (A version was reposted on Jan. 27.) His words resurfaced on Twitter and in a number of media outlets ― including The New York Times, The Guardian and Time ― last week after the 4-year-old George’s uncle, Prince Harry, announced his engagement to American actress Meghan Markle.

The piece, “How to change the Church of England,” outlined Holdsworth’s take on how acceptance of same-sex marriage would be achieved. Though marriage equality was legalized in England and Wales in 2013, same-sex marriages are not recognized by the Church of England.

Holdsworth suggested that marriage equality advocates pray “for the Lord to bless Prince George with a love, when he grows up, of a fine young gentleman.”

It seems strange to me that the good minister doesn't seem to know "how it works."

Part of the duty of the king is to sire an heir to continue the throne. Sire an heir, not adopt an heir. If he took an action that--through the complex rules of British royalty--would prevent him from carrying out his monarchal duty, that would also remove him from ability to become king--the lineage would skip him and go to the next person in line.

Therefore, the issue of a homosexual king being head of the Church of England would not arise.

I'm not sure, but Prince Harry might be doing the same thing in marrying a non-royal. I do know that Megan Markle will never be a "princess" for that reason. Harry will be given a dukedom and she will be a "duchess."
 
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PloverWing

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It sounds like the priest has already regretted his words. Even if one supports same-sex marriage, his words were ill-considered, for multiple reasons.

On the lineage, if Prince George were unable to produce an heir -- for whatever reason -- it shouldn't remove him from the throne. Elizabeth I, for example, famously chose not to marry, and thus died without children, through her own choice. But it would mean that after George died, the line would pass next to a sibling, in this case his younger sister Charlotte.
 
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Dave-W

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I'm not sure, but Prince Harry might be doing the same thing in marrying a non-royal. I do know that Megan Markle will never be a "princess" for that reason. Harry will be given a dukedom and she will be a "duchess."
That puts Harry in the same boat as his great great uncle King Edward VIII who abdicated due to wanting to marry a divorced woman. (Markle is divorced)

Who is Trevor Engelson? Meghan Markle’s ex-husband who she divorced in 2013 after a two year marriage
 
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PloverWing

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That puts Harry in the same boat as his great great uncle King Edward VIII who abdicated due to wanting to marry a divorced woman. (Markle is divorced)
I noticed that when reading about her. According to Wikipedia (for whatever that's worth :)), neither the church nor the crown has raised an objection. Perhaps times have changed, or perhaps they're trying to avoid the kind of prolonged affair that Prince Charles had with Camilla Parker Bowles.
 
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RDKirk

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I noticed that when reading about her. According to Wikipedia (for whatever that's worth :)), neither the church nor the crown has raised an objection. Perhaps times have changed, or perhaps they're trying to avoid the kind of prolonged affair that Prince Charles had with Camilla Parker Bowles.

Apparently the divorce issue has been overcome by the times and the Charles/Camilla case. There seems to be no doubt today that Charles' divorce and remarriage would interfere with his ascent to the throne.
 
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RDKirk

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It sounds like the priest has already regretted his words. Even if one supports same-sex marriage, his words were ill-considered, for multiple reasons.

On the lineage, if Prince George were unable to produce an heir -- for whatever reason -- it shouldn't remove him from the throne. Elizabeth I, for example, famously chose not to marry, and thus died without children, through her own choice. But it would mean that after George died, the line would pass next to a sibling, in this case his younger sister Charlotte.

"Remove" and "ascend" are two different cases.
 
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FireDragon76

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People are born gay, I think it's a little late for him to be anything else other than what he is. OTOH, I think the priest is just expressing a desire not to be heterosexist.
 
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RDKirk

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People are born gay, I think it's a little late for him to be anything else other than what he is. OTOH, I think the priest is just expressing a desire not to be heterosexist.

Well, no, he's expressing a desire to change the Church of England by way of monarchical edict, not just himself.
 
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FireDragon76

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The CoE is going to change, it's just a matter of time. Though gay marriage isn't currently happening there, there is widespread tolerance of gays in the church, and has been the case for some time.

I think by the time there is a gay king, people aren't going to care about whether or not he can have an heir. People outside Britain seem to pay more attention to the monarchy than the actual British do, and there is always a Republican minority that sees the whole thing as an outdated institution from superstitious times when people thought royalty had magical touches and blue blood.
 
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PloverWing

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The whole idea of "praying the straight away" is just as ridiculous as "praying the gay away". That's not how sexual orientation works.
Yes, that's one of several things that are wrong with Holdsworth's remarks. I suspect Holdsworth knows that prayers about changing sexual orientation are rarely answered in the affirmative, when he's thinking clearly. It's possible that this problem occurred to him the next day, after his comments had gone out onto the great wide unforgiving Internet.
 
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Michie

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What an imbecile.
Minister Sparks Outrage After Asking People To Pray For Prince George To Be Gay

An Anglican minister is feeling the heat after a blog post in which he urged congregants to “pray in the privacy of their hearts” for Prince George to be gay went viral.

Very Rev. Kelvin Holdsworth, who belongs to the Scottish Episcopal Church, wrote the original post nearly two years ago. (A version was reposted on Jan. 27.) His words resurfaced on Twitter and in a number of media outlets ― including The New York Times, The Guardian and Time ― last week after the 4-year-old George’s uncle, Prince Harry, announced his engagement to American actress Meghan Markle.

The piece, “How to change the Church of England,” outlined Holdsworth’s take on how acceptance of same-sex marriage would be achieved. Though marriage equality was legalized in England and Wales in 2013, same-sex marriages are not recognized by the Church of England.

Holdsworth suggested that marriage equality advocates pray “for the Lord to bless Prince George with a love, when he grows up, of a fine young gentleman.”
 
Upvote 0
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