If you don’t agree with church’s rules, leave it

I SUSPECT Iran’s morality police would be in meltdown by now if they had to deal with the fall-out from the likes of the abortion debate, same-sex marriage, women’s... well virtually everything about women.

Inevitably, the churches are now under pressure to accommodate the new morality of whatever you or enough Twitter followers of some celebrity thinks should be the new norm.

A priest had the temerity to question if a supporter of abortion reform could be married in the Catholic Church. Now a Presbyterian minister is in trouble for questioning the validity of same-sex marriage.

I am neither Catholic nor Presbyterian, but I understand and applaud the positions these men have taken.

When these churches formed they had a message, the Christian message. Their proponents went out to preach that message and invite those who believed to join. Accept the message (i.e. rules) and you are a member.

Today that seems to be reversed and what we have are those who want to be members but don’t like the message, so they insist it be changed to suit them.

Surely the answer for these souls is to do what dissenters have done for centuries and ‘take yourself out from amongst them’ and form your own church were you can make the message suit your rules.

RAYMOND HUGHES Ballyclare, Co Antrim