Bishop's unhelpful comments

Published on Wednesday 12 March 2008 21:12

WE LIVE in a secular society. That has a very precise meaning. It is not a signal for atheists to use the state to restrict the freedom to worship, or gratuitously to insult those with religious faith. However, a secular society is about tolerance for everyone, whether religious or not. It means simply that we guarantee everyone the right to freedom of belief and conduct, provided it does not harm others.

It is against this background that we have to consider remarks by the Rt Rev Joseph Devine, the Bishop of Motherwell. He has given a speech using language towards the gay community which many will find intemperate. He is at pains to say he "does not condemn", but he talks of a secular "conspiracy"; refers to "the homosexual lobby"; warns that "we neglect the gay movement at our peril"; and queries why gay groups attend the Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations.

The bishop is pursuing a high-risk strategy to open a public debate on moral values. No-one is happy with the moral climate of modern Britain, but suggesting it is the result of a secularist "conspiracy" is unhelpful, if not paranoid. To refer to a "homosexual lobby" is deeply uncharitable if not offensive. Between 1933 and 1945, 100,000 gay men were imprisoned by the Nazis' regime and 9,000 died in concentration camps. That is justification enough for gays to remember the Holocaust.