Same-Sex Marriage: A Dilemma for Parish Clergy

Kirby, Andrew; McKenzie-Green, Barbara; McAra‐Couper, Judith; Nayar, Shoba

doi:10.1007/s12119-017-9414-1

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In the 21st century, many scholars have been interested in particularly the relationship between homosexuality and religion (e.g., Cadge et al 2012;Whitehead 2013;Cragun et al 2015;Kirby et al 2017). In Christian tradition, and in most other religious traditions, sexual partnerships are for a man and a woman.…”

Section: Religion Gender and Homosexualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, attitudes towards same-sex marriage are currently changing. Many surveys in Finland and elsewhere have shown that the attitudes of the clergy and other religious leaders have changed in recent decades (Kallatsa and Kiiski 2019;Tervo-Niemelä 2018;Kirby et al 2017;Cragun et al 2015;Niemelä 2014;Whitehead 2013;Cadge et al 2012;Niemelä 2010;Niemelä and Palmu 2006). In 2006, 36% of the clergy in the ELCF supported the blessing of registered partnerships.…”

Section: Introduction 1same-sex Marriage In Finlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Same-Sex Marriage, Toleration, and the Clergy of the Finnish Lutheran Church

Kallatsa

2022

Religions

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In this study, I clarify what kind of attitudes the clergy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) have towards same-sex marriage and how they treat people who disagree with them. The empirical research material consists of 534 answers from Finnish clergy. The ELCF has rejected same-sex marriages, while in all other Nordic countries, the Lutheran churches are marrying same-sex couples. However, over half of the Finnish Lutheran clergy support same-sex marriages in the church. My article shows that the main justifications for their attitudes are: (1) theological justifications, (2) legal justifications, and (3) justifications related to the essence of marriage. Most of the priests treated respectfully those who disagree with them, while a third of the priests had negative thoughts. As a background theory I use the Theory of Moral Foundations, which gives useful tools for understanding why the clergy are divided by same-sex marriage.

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Section: Religion Gender and Homosexualitymentioning

confidence: 99%