Church has no place for gay marriages

I WRITE to you in firm support of Dr Sentamu’s forthright views on so-called marriages between homosexuals, and lesbians also. There has been and probably will be, more correspondence, both for and against.

However, it must be borne in mind that there cannot be, just cannot be, in any form, true marriage between two people of the same sex. It is not physically possible. Marriage is a true union of man and woman and in the sex act they become actual co-creators with Almighty God.

Homosexuals and lesbians may call themselves married or what they wish, but they are not married. Marriage is a Christian Sacrament and deemed to be a very sacred one – make no mistake about that.

It is all very well being dressed up at a Register Office – many celebrities affect such shams. Well, that is their business. But they must not be led into thinking that these “weddings” could or can be the norm in any Christian church.

From: E Jenkinson, Hunter House Road, Sheffield.

WE are fortunate to live in a country where we enjoy much freedom. But true freedom has its limitations which must be self-imposed; firstly by respect for oneself, without being egocentric, secondly by respect for others enough to put their interests before one’s own.

The problems of this present time would not be compounded if we could remember to think before we speak, and pause before we act or go on Facebook, Twitter etc and end up looking like idiots, whatever our place in society.

From: Peter Wood, Scaftworth Close, Bessacarr, Doncaster.

Is it surprising that the one thing which unites adherents of different religions is their hatred of non-believers or people of no faith? What most terrifies religious bigots is that their grip on power in public life is being threatened by what they call “militant secularism” (Sayeeda Warsi, Yorkshire Post, February 15).

Individuals should be free to follow whatever religion they choose in church and their private lives, but their beliefs should be kept separate from the public sphere. Formal prayers or any other religious practices should not be allowed in the public arena – which includes premises where Parliamentary and council business is conducted.

The continuing right of Bishops to vote in the House of Lords is an unwelcome reminder of a time when church and state were united in an unholy alliance to control the destiny of the ordinary people of this country and it is time this right was ended.

Continuing joy of the library

From: Connie Hird, Mount Drive, Bridlington.

The Focus article (Yorkshire Post, February 3) dedicated entirely to public libraries held such joy for me.

Like Alan Bennett, the most important library to me will always be my first one which I joined at the age of seven back in 1928. I have now reached the ripe old age of 91.

Bradford Moor library opened a new world to me of words and stories. I clearly recall sitting in a ring around the librarian, enthralled at the stories she read out to us, making them come alive.

I feel librarians must have some measure of the theatre in their make-up to be able to lift the words from the written page and be able to make us “see” the story as well as hear it. I have kept that in mind to this day, in anything I write.

I am still a borrower of books from my local library on Martongate, Bridlington, where I find the whole staff helpful, courteous and friendly. Long may the library remain open. A big thank you to them all and to yourselves for keeping the flag flying for libraries and books.

Wish of the islanders

From: CR Thrope, Lister Avenue, East Bowling, Bradford.

THE Falkland Islands are 250 miles off the Argentinean coast so are, in effect, in international waters. The British first had a base in the Falklands in 1690 but they changed hands a few times after this.

The people of these islands wish to remain as part of Britain, so the Spanish descendants of the Conquistadors should accept this and stop trying to stir anti-British feelings in the rest of the South America.

Prince William going to do a tour of duty in the Falklands is nothing to do with Argentina, sending warships to replace those that have done a tour in the South Atlantic is the same.

When people join the Armed Forces they go to where they are stationed without question, and the Ministry of Defence has the last say. Whether you are brought up on a council estate or a Royal household, you go where you are told.

They should remember that Prince Andrew fought in the last conflict, so Royalty means nothing if you are member of a team and go without question.

The Argentinian government should get its own country sorted and not try to hide its problems behind the Falklands the same as General Galtieri did in the 1980s.

Raw deal for the North

From: Don Burslam, Elm Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury.

I AGREE with the various MPs about the raw deal dealt out to the North (Yorkshire Post, February 9).

Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to transform the situation overnight and I note that they have no constructive suggestions in this regard. The late unlamented Regional Development Agency was emphatically not the solution.

No bureaucratic organisation such as this has the power to create a single new job except of course for their own staff. They certainly did achieve considerable expansion of their own empire at enormous expense which is the usual outcome for this kind of set-up.

I have suggested more than once for Government departments to be decentralised wholesale but vested interests block such a move.

The Government’s policy is to foster development at local level with local business people involved but this is easier said than done.