Calls in Scotland for marriage to be fundamentally redefined for homosexual marriage have come under fire from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.
John Deighan, the Parliamentary Officer for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, asked: “Are we saying that, for the past few thousand years, Western civilisation has been wrong and because of the lobbying by pressure groups over the past ten years everything should now change?”
Mr Deighan also asked: “What are we going to teach our children at school, that you can marry a man or a woman when you grow up?”
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Homosexual campaign group Stonewall has already sent a teachers pack to primary schools in Britain, pushing for children to be resilient to the values of their parents or grandparents.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has pledged to consult on homosexual marriage, while Scottish Labour say they want to consult on “options” regarding the controversial move.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have given their full support to same-sex marriage while the Scottish Conservatives’ manifesto is silent on the issue. Scottish Parliamentary elections take place on 5 May.
If marriage is redefined in Scotland, there will be pressure to enforce the redefinition throughout the UK.
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The Christian Institute has produced a briefing on the issue, arguing for retaining the definition of marriage as the lifelong union of one man to one woman.
Last year the SNP leader Alex Salmond said he did not think the Scottish Parliament would be able to change the law.
Explaining his position at the time, he said: “Currently no party in Scotland is able to legislate for same-sex marriage in Scotland without the permission of Westminster, due to the impact on laws covering immigration, pensions, inheritance tax and other areas where London still holds the power.”
However, campaigners such as those at the Equality Commission or the Equality Network reject this argument and are demanding that Holyrood leads the way and legalises homosexual marriage.
The UK Government has committed itself to a consultation on same-sex marriage.