In a move which has disturbed the delicate balance between Church and State, Melanie McPherson, the out-gay Labour MP for West Lothian has introduced into Parliament a Private Member’s motion under the ten minute rule which, in the unlikely event of its passing into law would change the face of the CofE for ever. Melanie’s bill, which would require all Church of England liturgies to refer to God as He/She, Mother/Father, is, she claims, simply bringing the National Church into line with current thinking on gender equality.
Interviewed with her partner, Chloe, and their daughter, Aimee, Melanie McPherson was challenged about a lapsed member of the Church of Scotland seeking to dictate doctrine to the Anglican Church in England. ‘This Bill,’ said Melanie, ‘is not about theology: it is a matter of concern for women everywhere, women of all faiths and none. As long as these people are allowed to go on assuming that the person with the top job is a man, the long, bitter struggle for female equality will not be over. As someone once said: “If God is male, the male is God”.’
‘Melanie and I want Aimee to grow up in a world where she knows she can aim for the skies, where she can have her sights set on the highest levels of attainment. This constant talk of God as Father is a put-down to intelligent, ambitious young women like her,’ said Chloe. ‘Our Bill strikes a blow for real equality. It is shocking, in modern Britain, where Tony has done so much, in Parliament and in government, to enhance the profile of women, that the State’s religious subsidiary should be allowed to carry on with this demeaning language.’
Aimee, who was born as a result of artificial insemination by an undisclosed donor, had nothing to add.