Unholy row

The responses from Tim Hopkins and Neil Barber (Letters , 7 March) suggest that the article by Anthony Horan, director Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office, has hit an uncomfortable nail on the head.

Today it would be a brave person indeed who would write a letter to this page condemning same sex marriage or the liberalisation of abortion or even the abolition of smacking.yet I suspect that a large minority of people in Scotland do not share these views.

I, too, would not find myself supporting the views of say Jacob Rees Mogg, but I admire his bravery.

Mr Horan referred to the ridicule and abuse heaped on anyone who dares question today’s intolerant orthodoxy. i perceive this in Mr Barber’s letter as he sneers at Christians using a “Bronze Age” text as a lifestyle guide. Mr Hopkins talks of debate being respectful, then can’t resist a pop at the Catholic Church.

I actually met Tim Farron MP last June and was in little doubt he would resign as Lib Dem leader, as he could not cope with the continual attacks on his Christian beliefs. The new secular progressive religion has a fundamentalist doctrine.

It also benefits from the current failure in our society to tackle social media abuse of all kinds. We must not silence the freedoms of those with whom we disagree. JOHN V LLOYD

Keith Place Inverkeithing, Fife for and could be shipped to Scotland when required. The further four miles at a cost of £114 million is relatively cheap when set against the cost of the present network. DW FENWICK

The Granary West Mill Street, Perth