CARDINAL Cardinal Keith O’Brien, one of the most objectionable little twerps in the Catholic Church hierarchy, ratcheted up his “War on Gay Marriage” by threatening the Scottish Government with an “unprecedented backlash” if it goes ahead with plans to legalise same-sex unions.

CARDINAL Cardinal Keith O’Brien, one of the most objectionable little twerps in the Catholic Church hierarchy, ratcheted up his “War on Gay Marriage” by threatening the Scottish Government with an “unprecedented backlash” if it goes ahead with plans to legalise same-sex unions.

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The egregious hate-monger – leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and the most senior Catholic in the UK – also pledged to spend another £100,000 on an advertising campaign against the plans. The Church has already spent £50,000 in its campaign against marriage equality in Scotland.

O’Brien said:

 

Marriage is under threat and politicians need to know the Catholic Church will bear any burden and meet any cost in its defence.

The Equality Network, the LGBT equality charity that campaigns for equal marriage, slammed the move as:

Aggressive, undemocratic and unchristian. 

It urged the Scottish Government to “stand up for equality” rather than “give in to threats”.

The Equality Network also claimed that the leadership of the Catholic Church in Scotland has a wider “anti-gay agenda”, pointing out that, in addition to opposing same-sex marriage, the Church previously ran expensive campaigns against the equal age of consent, the repeal of Section 28, civil partnerships, and same-sex adoption.

O’Brien has described same-sex marriage as a “grotesque subversion”. 

In December, he said the introduction of Civil Partnerships had been a mistake, arguing the law should never “facilitate” same-sex relationships.

These measures were not in the best interests of our society. The empirical evidence is clear, same-sex relationships are demonstrably harmful to the medical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of those involved, no compassionate society should ever enact legislation to facilitate or promote such relationships, we have failed those who struggle with same-sex attraction.

Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network, said:

For the Catholic Church to spend another £100,000 fighting LGBT equality in its self-declared ‘war on gay marriage’ seems to be an aggressive, undemocratic and unchristian thing to do. At a time of financial crisis, when poverty and deprivation are on the rise, surely there are better things that this money could be spent on. We know that two-thirds of Scots, and a majority of Scottish Catholics, support same-sex marriage. We trust that the Scottish Government will make its decision based on democratic principles and the evidence, and not who can spend the most money.

The public consultation on same-sex marriage closed in December with over 50,000 responses. The Opinion polls have shown consistent public support for same-sex marriage in Scotland. The most recent poll was conducted in mid-June by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Equality Network. It showed record support with 64 percent of Scots in favour of a change in the law, and just 26 percent opposed. Separate polls conducted over the past two years by Populus, YouGov, Angus Reid, and the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, have all shown similar levels of support.

The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey also showed that a majority of Scottish Catholics support same-sex marriage with 57 percent in favour and just 25 percent opposed.