I'm astounded by Patrick Harvie's arrogance, naivety and sleight of hand when he claims that laws must be determined by elected "secular" authorities (Letters, March 20). His sleight of hand is to conflate his secular beliefs with secular authority. His naivety is his failure to recognise that his secularism is simply an atheistic faith, which has all the attributes of religions which are theistic. It would appear that the fundamental difference is that secularist moral values are based on the relationship between humans and are subject to change, and religious moral values are based on the relationship between man and God and are absolute.
Given that faith is a set of principles to which the adherent subscribes, but for which there is no absolute proof acceptable to other faiths, it is rather arrogant for Mr Harvie to claim the moral high ground, so to speak. His faith is just one among many and he seeks to do what he denies others - the right for their beliefs to be included when framing the laws of the land.
Yes, I, too, believe in secular authority within a democratic country, which I interpret to mean representatives of all faiths, his own included, working together for the wellbeing of all its citizens and being free to bring their perspectives to society's many challenging problems.
Gerry Devlin, 34 Monroe Drive, Uddingston.
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