Same-sex couples need equality in law

But over the years there have been many other bigger changes to the law on people and their rights, creating welcome greater equality in society.

In the past 100 years, the legal position of women has been completely redefined, from a second class with no vote, to full legal equality.

Over a rather longer time scale, there has been a similar revolution in the legal position of Catholics in the UK. It is time the law also gave equality to same-sex couples.

As for the claim that the intention is to marginalise religion, the Unitarians, Quakers, Liberal Jews and a number of other religious groups wish to perform legally effective same-sex marriages.

The Equality Network strongly supports their right to do so – hardly a sign of wanting to exclude religion from the public sphere.

We also fully support the right of other religious bodies to continue to provide marriage for mixed-sex couples only. That’s religious freedom, and long may it continue.

Tim Hopkins

Equality Network

Bernard Street

Edinburgh

You report that leading Scottish Catholic Archbishop Mario Conti has “warned” politicians against legalising same-sex marriage in Scotland because that would amount to “redefining natural law”.

Human activities that redefine nature include arable farming, animal husbandry, building and occupying houses, making and wearing clothes, curing diseases and taking steps to prevent natural disasters such as fire, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis (all of which, tellingly, are known as “acts of God”).

As an advocate of “reason” as well as faith, Archbishop Conti would presumably wish to ban all such activities. Such a ban would enable, indeed require, us all to run naked together through a new Garden of Eden as we heed the Archbishop’s call and resist the urge to “redefine nature” by fashioning weapons to defend ourselves against hungry predatory animals.

And should any of us be so unfortunate as to trip and cut ourselves we should, I presume, cheerfully accept a slow, agonising death following the onset of gangrene rather than attempt to intervene in nature with a man-made treatment.

That such a senior representative of an organisation which has provided so much support, protection and worldly assistance to so many child abusers over so many decades should see fit to sermonise (in public) about the lack of “moral equivalence” between same-sex marriages involving consenting adults and male-female marriages is nothing short of scandalous and deeply shameful.

He should make a sincere and public apology at once. For goodness sake, if being a longstanding haven to child-abusing priests (including many persistent re-offenders) in defiance of the law of the land isn’t a “descent” into the kind of “moral disintegration” which Archbishop Conti so loudly condemns then I don’t know what is.

Martin Dowds

Cornwallis Place

Edinburgh

In claiming he is seeking “harmony and co-operation” from secularists, Richard Lucas hopes to draw attention away from the fact that yet again he is conflating “Christian” beliefs with an opposition to homosexual marriage.

I don’t know how many letters from more knowledgeable theologians it takes to make the point that the gospel writers say nothing about Jesus’ view of homosexual relationships.

In fact He said very little about sexual relationships, except to criticise men who divorced their wives for a younger model and those who claimed to condemn adultery when they were in fact obsessed with doing it.

It seems nothing changes in our hypocrisy about sexual relationships, but it is important to continue to point out that Jesus always used real examples of what “Christian” behaviour should be about. In particular it involves taking relationships seriously regardless of gender.

In seeking to have their relationship recognised by other Christians, that is exactly what homosexual couples who wish to marry are asking to do.

There are significant religious groups such as the Quakers who already have no problem with this, and the new Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Rev Dr Ison, has already expressed support for gay marriage. Richard Lucas does not speak, and has never spoken, for all followers of Jesus on this matter.

(Dr) Mary Brown

Dalvenie Road

Banchory