Staff from SECL’s Department of Religious Studies have been busy commenting on the major developments over the past week, from gay marriage to the Pope’s surprise resignation.
Professor Jeremy Carrette has argued that ideas of marriage have always been open to change and the vote for equality is a victory for romantic love over ideas of marriage as reproduction.
‘The vote in the House of Commons on same-sexed marriage produces a wide array of responses, but changing attitudes to the status of marriage is nothing new. From the Roman civil marriage to Christian notions of Holy Union and from polygamy to monogamy, marriage has always been changing in the face of public attitudes and social orders,’ says Professor Carrette.
For the full comment, please see:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/news/comment/stories/Same-sexed%20marriage/2013
Meanwhile, Professor Robin Gill has also made several media appearances to discuss the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. You may find him interviewed by Sky News and the local press here:
http://news.sky.com/story/1050560/pope-benedict-resignation-global-reaction
http://www.kentnews.co.uk/blogs/was_the_pope_right_to_decide_to_step_down_from_key_role_1_1929696