These propositions rest on a number of untenable or illogical assertions. The philosophical underpinnings of that theology, viewing the Bible as the work of writers giving advice and inviting debate, rather than recording the inspired word of God, is disturbing to a Christian, particularly to an Anglican who is familiar with the Articles of Religion.

How can such serious disagreement be reconciled within a single denomination?

Since we were birthed out of the Church of England, a brief look at our English history provides an important insight into our present situation and personality.

In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation exacted a bloody toll in England. A succession of monarchs beginning with Henry VIII produced an ecclesiastical pendulum swing from Protestantism to Catholicism to Protestantism.

When the Sr. Warden arrives-the person who has legal responsibility for the building, including the safety of those inside–he firmly demands that the invaders leave. The bishop falsely tells the warden that he "has no choice"–that he, the bishop, has deposed the parish's priest and appointed a priest-in-charge, that she now has authority over the building, and she has given the bishop and his entourage permission to enter. Cute, but canonically and legally nonsense.

Attempts were led by Baroness O'Cathain to extend the provision of the Bill to include siblings living together and carers, who she said also suffered from the injustice that the Bill sought to put right. But her amendments failed.