《经济学人》（The Economist）是一份创办于1843年的英国杂志，主要关注政治和商业方面的新闻。它是英语专业学生课外阅读的必备刊物，更是考研英语命题小组最钟爱的题源，历年考研真题中几乎有一半的文章都选自《经济学人》。

A row over plans to let gay couples marry in church.Pity the prime minister. With most news bleakly austere these days, changing the law to let gay couples marry must have seemed a sure way to spread crowd-pleasing sweetness and light. Countries around the world are giving homosexuals full marriage rights. More than half of British respondents usually tell pollsters they favour gay marriage. Besides, David Cameron truly believes in it, as he told the Conservative Party conference in October 2011.

译文： 同性伴侣可在教堂举行婚礼这一法案争议不断。英国最近都没有什么好消息。可怜了首相卡梅隆，但修改法律允许同性伴侣结婚似乎让民众心里一暖。很多国家都在逐步给予同性恋完全婚姻权。民意调查显示，英国超过一半的受访者都支持同性婚姻合法化。此外，在2011年10月的保守党大会上戴维·卡梅隆（David Cameron）也表示他本人是完全赞同同性婚姻合法化。

But government plans to let same-sex couples not only marry but marry in church, detailed on December 11th, have startled the ecclesiastical horses and divided the already fissiparous Conservatives. The Anglican and Catholic churches, along with the Muslim Council of Britain and Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, oppose the move, which contravenes their belief that marriage is between a woman and a man. High-profile Tories including Michael Gove, the education secretary, and Boris Johnson, London’s mayor, are for the change, but over 100 Conservative MPs are believed to oppose it. That will not put the outcome in doubt, as Labour and the Liberal Democrats support the shift, but it guarantees a continuing row.

译文： 12月11日，英政府公布了详细条例——不仅允许同性伴侣结婚，也可在教堂举行婚礼。这让教会的那些老匹夫大吃一惊，使已出现分歧的保守党更是争论不断。圣公会和天主教，以及英国穆斯林协会和首席拉比萨克斯勋爵（Lord Sacks）都反对这项提议，因为这和他们一男一女才能结婚的信仰相否。几名高调的保守党人，包括教育大臣迈克尔·戈夫（Michael Gove）和伦敦市长鲍里斯·约翰逊（Boris Johnson），赞成此提议，估计过百的国会议员将会反对。由于工党和自由民主党都支持这项提议，所以这些反对者对结果没有什么影响，但不可避免的会引起不断的争论。

At issue is how to balance competing rights—to freedom of religious expression and freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This clash last hit the headlines in 2007, when a Catholic adoption agency was required to consider gay couples as adoptive parents, and the religiously minded owners of a small hotel were told they could not refuse to rent a double bedroom to a gay couple. This time, the dispute is over core religious activities, not charitable or commercial services. But once same-sex marriages are permitted, and on religious premises at that, some fear that churches, mosques and temples could be forced into solemnising relationships of which they disapprove profoundly. Are they right to worry?

译文： 目前的问题是如何去平衡这两种相对抗的权利——宗教表达自由权和性取向不受歧视的权利。此矛盾最近一次上头条是在2007年，那一年，一条新闻报道了一对同性恋夫妇要求一个天主教收养机构允许他们收养孩子，还有一条新闻报道了一家小旅店虔诚的业主们被告知他们不得拒绝向同性恋伴侣出租双人间。这次的争议核心是宗教活动，而非慈善或商业服务。一些人担心，一旦同性婚姻合法化允许在宗教处所举办婚礼的话，教堂、清真寺和寺庙都将被迫为其举办隆重的典礼，而这种同性婚姻他们根本不能接受。这样的担心难道毫无道理吗？

The government assures them they need not. All same-sex couples will be entitled to civil marriage, not just the civil partnership they have been allowed since 2005. Those who wish to marry religiously may do so, if a church is willing. A “quadruple lock” has been designed to protect churches that are not against suits for discrimination or breaching human rights.

译文： 政府承诺这样的担心没必要。2005年，英国允许同性伴侣有民事伴侣关系权，现所有同性伴侣将享有民事婚姻权。如果某个教堂愿意，同性伴侣可去教堂举行婚礼。政府还制定了一个“四重法律锁”来保护那些不愿意为其主持婚礼的教堂免于歧视和侵犯人权的诉讼。

The new law (which should be on the statute books in 2015) will state that no religious organisation or minister can be compelled to marry same-sex couples. There will be a formal “opt-in” system for those that are interested. The Equality Act of 2010 will be amended. The Church of England, whose canon law is intertwined with the law of the land and normally has a duty to marry people, will not, at its own request, splice same-sex couples, unless canon law and legislation are changed.

译文： 新法（预计2015年实施）规定，不强迫任何宗教组织和牧师给同性伴侣举行婚礼。届时会为那些有兴趣的宗教组织和牧师提供正式的“自由选择”流程。2010年的《平等法》将会修订。英国国教会的教会法与当地法律关系紧密，通常还肩负为公民举办婚礼的义务。但在它的要求下，英国国教会不会为同性伴侣举办婚礼，除非教会法和法律改变。

That still leaves Strasbourg, which has cheerfully overlooked Parliament’s declared wish and told Britain to let at least some convicted prisoners vote. “There’s no way you can stop a couple going to the European Court of Human Rights and arguing that the fact British law does not oblige religious organisations to marry them is a violation of their rights,” says Robert Wintamute, a barrister who teaches at Kings College London. But they won’t get far, he reckons. Others agree. The European Convention is a touch ambiguous. The court does not require governments to let gay couples marry, still less churches.

译文： 斯特拉斯堡（欧洲人权法庭的所在地），跟英国政府在囚犯是否享有选举权问题上有分歧。在伦敦国王学院教书的大律师罗伯特（Robert Wintamute）说：“你没法阻止一对伴侣跑到欧洲人权法庭去控告英国法律——宗教组织可不为同性伴侣举办婚礼——是对他们的侵权。”但他们也不会成功。其他人也同意这样的说法。欧洲人权公约对此有点模糊不清。法庭不会要求国家政府允许同性婚姻，更不用说教堂了。

But debate over the limits of religious freedom is lively. The hotel owners lost in the Court of Appeals in February, but Lady Justice Rafferty had this to say: “It would be unfortunate to replace legal oppression of one community (homosexual couples) with legal oppression of another (those sharing the Appellants’ beliefs)” The Supreme Court has accepted their case.

译文： 但关于宗教自由限度的讨论热烈了起来。之前提到的旅馆业主2月份在上诉法庭又败诉了，但是女大法官Rafferty补充说道，“如果把一部分人（同性伴侣）的自由建立在另一部分人（那些和上诉人有着同样信仰的人）身上，这也是不幸的。”最高法庭已经受理了此案件。

Strasbourg too has seen action. Four British people who say their employers denied them religious expression—including Nadia Eweida, initially refused permission by British Airways to wear a visible cross—were heard by the court there in September. A judgment may emerge in January. All of which suggests that politicians may enact as many “locks” as they please, but in the end courts hold the keys.

译文： 斯特拉斯堡也有过类似情况。四名英国人称其雇主不顾自己的宗教信仰，其中纳迪亚·艾薇达（Nadia Eweida） 首当其冲，她所在的英国航空公司不允许她带的十字架露在外面。他们四位9月已经接受欧洲人权法庭聆讯。判决结果也许在1月份公布。这一切都告诉我们，政客们可以随意颁布各种“保护锁”，但法庭有最终解释权。