Equality above all

I was a little surprised to discover a letter (28 October) from the Edinburgh Secular Society ­commenting on the Free Church’s submission to the Smith Commission, mainly because our submission had not been reported on in The Scotsman.

It is absurd to claim that we wish to abandon “equality and fairness”.

If anyone wishes to read our submission on the Free Church website (www.freechurch.org) they can see for themselves.

Our major point is that “equality” is a Christian value, which ­recognises that all human beings are equally made in the image of God and should be accorded due respect and care, whatever the race, gender, social class etc.

We include the child in the womb and the elderly. On the other hand, the Secular Society has an Orwellian concept of equality.

It believes we should all be equally free – to have secular schools and a secular society with their secular values.

We can have choice as long as we choose only what they want. Neil Barber says he will “fight fiercely” to allow us to have our “religious” beliefs, what he ­neglects to mention is that he will do so only as long as we are like the local knitting club and don’t let them interfere with anything in public life.

The militant secularists, whose numbers are tiny, actually believe that their philosophy is so absolutely true that they will brook no rival.

The Free Church believes that the people of Scotland (of all faiths and none) are better served by us maintaining our traditional Christian values and ethos, rather than handing everything over to an authoritarian state where we are governed by the values of whichever elites happen to be in power at the time.

David Robertson

St Peters Free Church

St Peter Street

Dundee