Gay marriage row

One of the least edifying aspects of the whole “gay marriage” bill storm in a teacup has been the manner in which the Scottish Roman Catholic church has taken all the flak (your report and Letters, 10 October) while the various Protestant, Muslim and Jewish denominations that are equally vehemently against the proposals dare only mutter behind closed doors. So much for their principles.

But now we have David Robinson of his own “Solas Centre for Public Christianity” (his own wee Free Church front?) coming out to blast the fiery trumpet, a month behind events as usual.

Has his conscience finally got the better of him at his Catholic colleagues being voices crying in the wilderness?

Or has espying Paisley Bishop Tartaglia’s sudden easy Warholian 15 minutes of fame across the media made him hungry for a slice of the action?

It’s still a topic for cringing amongst the Wee Free that in his quest for reflected fame Robinson went pursuing Richard Dawkins with his tortuous rebuttal book The Dawkins Letters (available at all good religious bookstore clearence bins), only for Dawkins to go “David who?” and ignore him – knowing a fellow self-publicist when he saw one.

Next time, Rev Robinson, try coming in at the start, not when it suits your own agenda. You might find people in Dundee taking you more seriously that way, let alone anywhere else.

Mark Boyle

Linn Park Gardens

Johnstone, Renfrewshire

You quote Archbishop Conti (10 October) as saying of same-sex marriage “the Catholic Church will not accept it”.

The Church may indeed continue to not accept it among its membership. There are many more of us in Scotland, however, who will happily accept it and will stand up for equality for all Scotland’s citizens.

We stand against those who invoke irrational bronze-age prejudices and supernatural phenomena to dictate “thou shalt not” to people over whose freedom they have no jurisdiction whatsoever.

As Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh in the Episcopal Church, told this newspaper recently, denying gay and lesbian marriage is “an intolerable intrusion into people’s freedom and integrity”.

If the history of the Catholic Church tells us anything, it is that it has some track record in this regard.

Alistair McBay

Lawmuirview

Methven Perth