Kirk ministers could be sued

I NOTE the concern expressed within the Church of Scotland with regard to ministers being sued for declining to wed gay couples (“Kirk warns ministers face legal challenge for refusing to wed gay couples”, The Herald, April 28). Thankfully, I believe that most people would welcome the fact that we have moved on from the position on homosexuality which prevailed before the introduction of the Sexual Offences 1967 and the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, which decriminalised homosexual acts in private. These enactments reflected significant shifts in attitude beyond that expressed in the House of Lords by Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, who said that he favoured the age of homosexual consent being eighty.

Life, of course, moved on again and we had civil partnerships under the Civil Partnerships Act 2004, permitting civil partnerships between same sex couples, and then came the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 allowing same-sex marriages. One wonders whether or not the time is coming when it will be impossible for anyone to state that it his or her opinion, whether based on background, belief, or religion, that marriage is an institution, which should be one to be entered into only by a man and a woman.

Given the pace of development, I believe that, in spite of assurances legislative and otherwise, it is only a matter of time before the Church of Scotland and one of its ministers are embroiled in a court action, initiated by a same-sex couple alleging discrimination. No doubt our national church will be comforted by the fact that they can call in aid the judgment pronounced by The Herald in a leader to the effect that they have nothing to worry about (“A question of faith on gay marriage”, The Herald, April 28). Ian W Thomson, 38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.