wfn.org | Scottish Church Leaders Split on Repealing Anti-Gay Law

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

25-January-2000 
00032 
 
    Scottish Church Leaders Split on Repealing Anti-Gay Law 
 
    by Religion News Service 
 
WASHINGTON- Church leaders in Scotland are split over the Scottish 
Executive's proposal to repeal a law that forbids local authorities from 
promoting "the teaching in any maintained (state-supported) school of the 
acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship." 
 
    Repeal is vigorously opposed by Roman Catholic Cardinal Thomas Winning, 
archbishop of Glasgow, who urged Scotland's "silent majority" to speak out 
against it and who reportedly denounced homosexual behavior as a 
"perversion," adding: "I will not stand for this type of behavior which is 
now being described as wholesome and healthy when it is far from it." 
 
    But the moderator of the General Assembly of the (Presbyterian) Church 
of Scotland, the Rev. John Cairns, has backed the Executive's proposal and 
said he was "perturbed" there did not seem to be an objective discussion 
about what was being proposed. 
 
    "It is very easy to project the extreme view which is not the reality," 
he added. "It does not seem to me that the proposal is in effect promoting 
anything other than what would be considered a reasonable and appropriate 
education for people in the modern day and age." 
 
    Calling for "a rational discussion," he said, "It ought to be possible 
to devise sex education in such a way that, without promoting any kind of 
sexual activity, you can talk about what actually happens in the world. 
That is what children should be educated to deal with." 
 
    Cairns said he was speaking for himself and not the church because the 
denomination has no policy on the matter and policy can only be decided by 
the church's General Assembly. 
 
    Other Church of Scotland officials noted there would be many people in 
the denomination "deeply dismayed" by Cairns' view. 
 
    "We are inundated with people in the Church of Scotland who are very 
dismayed that the church as a whole has not come out against repeal," said 
Ann Allen, convenor the denomination's board of social responsibility. 
 
    "We do not discriminate in any way, but we do not condone homosexual 
practice, as we do not condone adultery or promiscuity," she added. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This note sent by Office of News Services, 
  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  to the World Faith News list <wfn-news@wfn.org>.
  For additional information about this news story,
  call 502-569-5493 or send e-mail to PCUSA.News@pcusa.org

  On the web:  http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/

  If you have a question about this mailing list, 
  send queries to wfn@wfn.org