Where will changes to marriage end?

THE proposal that is being considered by the Scottish Parliament to alter those eligible to marry led to a degree of misunderstanding of the Catholic Church’s view on this matter. The Catholic Church has always taught that those who can marry are male and female as they alone are capable of bearing children and forming their offspring to contribute positively to the common good of society.

The uniqueness of marriage being contracted between a man and woman is to be found in all culture and eras. For a parliament to seek to redefine marriage is an usurpation of the natural law and is fraught with dangers for the stability of the society.

If one allows homosexual couples to marry then why would we, as a society, not then allow polygamous or polyandric unions? How about if people wanted group marriages? Why not have human and animal marriages too? If one’s only criteria for changing the definition of marriage is to promote “equality” or to end “discrimination” then the aforementioned scenarios should be considered. To undermine the institution of marriage will only lead to instability in communities and to trivialise that which has for millennia served Scotland well.

Andrew Gray, Edinburgh