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Sutherland,
by Islay McLeod
Is this not more worrying?
It will come as no surprise to Bruce Gardner (25 September) that an openly gay humanist like myself is not persuaded by his arguments about same-sex marriage or the right of gay people to access what are called public services. My question to him is about the importance which Christians like him attach to homosexuality. Why, when there so many other issues threatening humanity or part of it, are they so hung up about the desire for gay people to exercise full citizenship of the societies that they live in?
There are a number of issues about which I imagine Christians should be concerned. The growing inequality of income in the UK and most other parts of the world will generate increasing human misery. Human activity is endangering polar ice with potentially catastrophic environmental consequences. Children in war zones are facing horrendous traumas which will mark them forever. Christian communities are in danger of being expelled from several countries in the Middle East where they have lived for centuries. I could go on.
I’m sure that he wouldn’t suggest that these are all caused by same-sex couples or people expressing their anger about same-sex marriage. My question to him is: why do you and various religious leaders prioritise attacking the human rights of sexual minorities when there is so much destructive human behaviour that should be challenged?
Bob Cant
I totally agree with Bruce Gardner on what he has to say about ‘pseudo-liberals’ brooking no opposition and caving in to populism. Mind you, I found Alex Wood’s article, presumably as one of that species, far more convincing in its inclusiveness, embracing all, whether we agree with them or not. It was Bruce’s word ‘pseudo’ that left me feeling very uncomfortable. Pot calling the kettle black was the cliché hitting me, for I write as a confirmed liberal, who is cringing at that pseudo tag, adding that I’m no part of any coalition.
Surely we can be both liberal and genuine also. I would certainly claim to be. It has troubled me for a long time that Jesus’ challenging message in the Sermon on the Mount has, at its heart: ‘Love your enemy; bless those who curse you; judge not, that ye be not judged’. If we followed that path and were truly committed to it, wars would cease and the lion would live with the lamb.
Bruce, we liberals can stand name-calling, but please don’t call all of us, who take a very different point of view ‘pseudo’, for that is offensive, to say the very least, lumping us all in the same basket. You see, we’re not basket cases. I have a problem between the message of Jesus, always reconciling and the divided attitude within his church, festering away still.
Ian Petrie
The verse from ‘The Shipyard Apprentice’ quoted by Martin Gordon (27 September) is a wee bit different to the way I know the song, but we can put that down to the folk process at work – such songs are one place where variants are always more than acceptable. But we mustn’t allow that, or any other process, to obscure the fact that the song was only co-written by Archie Fisher. His collaborators were Bobby Campbell and Norman Buchan MP, both no longer with us, sadly, but both very influential figures in the Scottish folk music revival in their day.
Ray Templeton
David Torrance’s defence (2 October) of Johann Lamont’s political u-turn was neatly argued. However, we may be more inclined to join him in applauding her ‘bravery’ if we thought that any of it was of her own making. I look forward to hearing more of the detail from her in the weeks and months to come.
Bill Boyd
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