Confusion caused by the Church

THE recent comments of Archbishop Sentamu, who would exclude gay marriage from the Church (and fair cop, Your Grace, because nowhere in the Holy Bible is homosexuality mentioned other than as a mortal sin and an abomination such as to incur the dreaded wrath of God), are not so much wrong as awaiting further clarification.

For now that he has finally informed us that marriage is a Holy Sacrament instituted by and entirely within the remit of the Church for the sole purpose of sanctifying the union of couples of opposite gender, then surely by the same token, likewise neither should heterosexuals who have their relationships rubber-stamped by the State, have ever been allowed by the Church to be considered “married” couples, but rather parties to civil partnership along with their homosexual brethren.

On this basis, therefore, and conceding that the Archbishop is correct and has a point superbly validated by the Holy Bible, the Church would have done much better to exclude heterosexual civil partners from marital status, and clarified its position on the matter then, instead of waiting for homosexuals to claim such status in Church before starting to predicate about what the Holy Sacrament of marriage is supposed to be about.

Had it done so, homosexuals would now be receiving the equal treatment and respect that they deserve, and a hullabaloo that has nothing to do with the message of Christ whatsoever need never have arisen.

In other words, it is the Church that allowed this confusion to arise in the first place. Like they say: use it or lose it, and the same goes for the sanctity of holy matrimony.

The Church lost its monopoly on marriage long ago, and did so without batting an eye.

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

AS a Methodist cum Anglican, I have to admit I was somewhat concerned when Tony Blair recommended that the Queen should appoint a Ugandan as Archbishop of York.

It seemed to me that there were many English-born men who could have filled the post of Archbishop in the Church of England. I need not have had any concerns whatsoever, as Archbishop John Sentamu has turned out to be pure gold. He leads the Church from the front and is always willing to speak out for right.

He is not afraid to speak his mind but does so in a manner that should offend no-one. May he long lead his Church this way.

From: David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Holgate, York.

THE Archbishop of York has upset (even offended) a number of people with his comments on marriage. If only everyone could say what they like about any subject, we would then truly have freedom of speech, because right now we have no such thing.

From: John Watson, Hutton Hill, Leyburn.

A CHURCH marriage is between a man and a woman (Yorkshire Post, February 2). Long may it remain so.

Worried about road survey

From: Howard Madden, Westway, Guiseley, Leeds.

I HOPE that the sighting of Highway Agency surveyors at the JCT roundabout and the traffic lights at Rawdon does not mean they are going to clog up those two junctions like they have the whole of Guiseley.

The increase in pollution adjacent to the A65 must be at least 75 per cent. I have heard a shop owner say that you can now taste the fumes and the queues of traffic can now spread through three sets of traffic lights and beyond.

The blocking of a lane on the Horsforth ring road roundabout has increased my journey time to work at Bramley by 10 minutes (more pollution). I do remember, 20 years or so ago, the island at Horsforth was made smaller, at some considerable expense, to increase traffic flow.

I bet these people with their pots of white paint do not live in Guiseley or indeed, have a licence to drive a motor vehicle.

Police staffing – Cooper right

From: John GK Wildie, Briar Grove, Sandal, Wakefield.

I MOST certainly agree with the Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (Yorkshire Post, January 27) that the loss of more than 700 police officers in Yorkshire and the Humber region since the General Election is shocking.

The number of police are at the lowest level for a decade. The Home Secretary Theresa May has let down the communities and turned her back on the police.

The decision to cut policy too far and too fast will only lead to an increase in crimes; more shoplifting, burglaries and old people being mugged. People are no longer safe in their homes.

Meanwhile, there are plans to get rid of the helicopter for the South Yorkshire Police because it is costing far too much. This is all ridiculous.