Former Metropolitan Police officer Brian Paddick has hit back at Cardinal Keith O'Brien's comments on homosexuality. The London Mayoral candidate has asserted that there is "no intellectual argument" against same-sex marriages. Cardinal Keith O’Brien,  leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, accused the Government of arrogance ahead of a consultation on the issue this month.  Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, he claimed that plans for gay marriage were a "grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right." He added: “The Government has suggested that same-sex marriage wouldn’t be compulsory and churches could choose to opt out. This is staggeringly arrogant. “No Government has the moral authority to dismantle the universally understood meaning of marriage.” But Paddick – who is gay – has hit back. “Same-sex marriage should simply be a universally accepted human right for everyone," he said.   “If we really believe in equality, there is no sound intellectual argument against gay marriage. There may be religious objections, as there are religious objections to equality for women, but that does not mean we should be ruled by them.” Meanwhile, the UK gay Humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust has also slammed O’Brian’s condemnation. George Broadhead, the PTT’s secretary and veteran gay activist, said: “Given the Roman Catholic Church’s well-known views and policy on gay sexual relationships and rights, including Civil Partnership, not to mention Cardinal O’Brian’s previous homophobic outbursts, his latest are totally predictable. His contention that gay marriage would shame the UK in the eyes of the world is also bizarre.  "Has the cardinal not heard that gay marriage has already been legalised in no fewer than ten countries: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands? I am not aware that any of these countries have suffered shame or any sort of pariah status as a result. This just shows how out of touch with reality the Roman Catholic Church has become.”

The head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, took to the media this weekend to launch an attack on the government's plans to hold a consultation on legalising gay marriage. In an opinion piece for the Sunday Telegraph, O'Brien threw his weight behind the campaign by the Coalition for Marriage (C4M),launched by religious groups last month and spearheaded by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, and echoed C4M's emphasis on the "redefinition" of marriage:

"Redefining marriage will have huge implications for what is taught in our schools, and for wider society. It will redefine society since the institution of marriage is one of the fundamental building blocks of society. The repercussions of enacting same-sex marriage into law will be immense. But can we simply redefine terms at a whim? Can a word whose meaning has been clearly understood in every society throughout history suddenly be changed to mean something else?"

Having branded proposals for legalising gay marriage as "madness" and "a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right", and argued that gay marriage would "create a society which deliberately chooses to deprive a child of either a mother or a father", O'Brien went on to deploy a bizarre and, you could argue, rather offensive analogy:

"Disingenuously, the Government has suggested that same-sex marriage wouldn’t be compulsory and churches could choose to opt out. This is staggeringly arrogant. No Government has the moral authority to dismantle the universally understood meaning of marriage. Imagine for a moment that the Government had decided to legalise slavery but assured us that “no one will be forced to keep a slave”. Would such worthless assurances calm our fury? Would they justify dismantling a fundamental human right? Or would they simply amount to weasel words masking a great wrong?"

O'Brien continued his attack on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, restating his view that legalising gay marriage will "shame" the United Kingdom. Asked whether his slavery analogy was "inflammatory", O'Brien defended the words he used in the Sunday Telegraph:

"I think it's a very, very good example as to what might happen in our own country at this present time, and I feel I've a duty, I've a responsibility, to preach and to teach, and this is one of the ways in which I do it. ... It is a perfectly good example as to what could happen in our own country if we go this way, and as I say I am simply handing on the teaching of the Christian church down through the years."

Asked whether states that have already legalised gay marriage are violating human rights, the Cardinal continued:

"Countries where this is legal are indeed violating human rights. We know that, we know what the United Nations declaration states, and we know what follows on from something like this. It seems to me to be the thin end of the wedge, and it's changing the whole notion of what marriage and what a family is."

Today presenter John Humphries concluded by asking O'Brien whether he is afraid that his views risk creating the impression that the Catholic Church is "way behind society". The Cardinal responded by suggesting that society may have "progressed" too far:

"I think it's time now to call a halt to what you might call 'progress' in society, I don't call 'progress' the things that are happening nowadays, and when we talk about the thin end of the wedge, we remember that Abortion Act in 1967, when we were told there would be clearly-defined ways when abortion might take place, and now we know there is around seven million abortions since that happened, and further aberrations are hinted at at this present time. The same would happen if same-sex unions were defined as marriages. Further aberrations would be taking place, and society would be degenerating even further than it has already degenerated into immorality."

Same-sex marriage looks set to become a key battleground in coming months. Today's Daily Telegraph reports that the Catholic Church is planning to mobilise its congregations in opposition to the plans, while secular and liberal Christian campaigners have rallied to condemn the recent attacks on gay marriage. Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has condemned O'Brien's remarks, suggesting that the Cardinal should welcome the fact that gay couples wish to get married:

"Cardinal O'Brien is out of touch and intolerant. Opinion polls show that most Christians support gay equality and that 61 of the public support the right of gay couples to have a civil marriage in a register office. Only 33% disagree ... If he supports marriage, the Cardinal should welcome the fact that many lesbian and gay couples want to get married. Same-sex marriage does not detract in any way from heterosexual marriage. It does not diminish or devalue marriages between opposite-sex couples.  Cardinal O'Brien has attacked government plans as an attempt to redefine marriage. But the churches have redefined marriage in the past. They no longer oppose divorce and the remarriage of divorced couples. There is no reason why marriage should not be redefined to include lesbian and gay couples."

Meanwhile, a Coalition for Equal Marriage (C4EM) launches this week, supported by Stonewall, the British Humanist Association, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, the LGBT+ Lib Dems, the Pink Triangle Trust and the Metropolitan Community Church of North London. Over 11,000 people have signed a petition supporting gay marriage so far, and you can add your name by visiting the C4EM's website.

A Catholic cleric who hit out at the "madness" of the Government's gay marriage plans has been condemned for "scaremongering".

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, accused the coalition of trying to "redefine reality" and claimed the proposals were a "grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right."

But his comments were roundly criticised amid fears the outburst would fuel prejudice.

In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, Cardinal O'Brien wrote: "Since all the legal rights of marriage are already available to homosexual couples, it is clear that this proposal is not about rights, but rather is an attempt to redefine marriage for the whole of society at the behest of a small minority of activists.

"Same-sex marriage would eliminate entirely in law the basic idea of a mother and a father for every child. It would create a society which deliberately chooses to deprive a child of either a mother or a father. Other dangers exist. If marriage can be redefined so that it no longer means a man and a woman but two men or two women, why stop there? Why not allow three men or a woman and two men to constitute a marriage, if they pledge their fidelity to one another?"

Plans to introduce civil gay marriages have divided the Conservative party and put David Cameron on a collision course with a number of religious leaders. Cardinal O'Brien's attack was the most outspoken attack to date.

But the Prime Minister is a "passionate" advocate of the change, telling his party two years ago he supported gay marriage "because I am a Conservative".

Margot James, the first openly lesbian Conservative MP, criticised the "apocalyptic language" used by the Cardinal and accused him of "scaremongering"

"I think it is a completely unacceptable way for a prelate to talk," she told BBC 1's Andrew Marr Show. "I think that the Government is not trying to force Catholic churches to perform gay marriages at all. It is a purely civil matter."

Labour's Deputy Leader Harriet Harman said she hopes the comments would not end up "fuelling or legitimising prejudice". "We have had prejudice, discrimination and homophobia for hundreds of years, that doesn't make it right," she told the show. "I don't want anybody to feel that this is a licence for whipping up prejudice."

Opponents of same-sex marriage have come under criticism for comparing gay people to paedophiles and thieves in an effort to dissuade the Scottish Government from plans to legalise same-sex marriage.   Today, in a BBC Radio Scotland ‘Call Kaye’ discussion the Reverend James Gracie, a Minister of the Free Church of Scotland argued that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people should not be treated ‘equally’ because homosexuality was a ‘lifestyle choice’ comparable to paedophilia, polygamy and theft.   When asked to explain why he did not support same-sex marriage, Rev James Gracie said: “If the homosexuals and these people want to be treated equally then what of paedophiles – what about polygamy…”   Gracie went on to declare: “Yes it’s a lifestyle choice” and compared it to “people who steal, people who have tendencies for all sorts of things.”   Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network, said: “It is disappointing that the opponents of equal marriage are comparing loving same-sex couples to paedophiles, polygamists and thieves in an increasingly desperate effort to persuade the Scottish Government to ditch their proposals to legalise same-sex marriage. Most people will be appalled by these comments.”   Grant Costello, Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, said; “Throughout the Scottish Youth Parliament’s Love Equally campaign for marriage equality, Scotland’s young people have demonstrated an entirely positive approach and treated those with different views with courtesy and respect. We are deeply disappointed and saddened that this standard has not been matched by those with opposing opinions and are extremely concerned that in our modern Scotland homophobic abuse and smears on national radio can be allowed to take place.”   Nathan Sparling, NUS Scotland LGBT Officer, said: “These kinds of comments, and similar ones aimed at the young people who were peacefully and positively demonstrating their support for marriage equality at the Parliament today, are truly despicable. A formal complaint was raised with Lothian & Borders Police about the incident at Holyrood. Hopefully achieving equal marriage in Scotland will be yet one more strike against hate crimes and will go further in creating a Scotland free of discrimination.”   On Wednesday equality campaigners handed over 18,000 consultation responses to the Scottish Government in support of same-sex marriage.   The responses were collected by the Equal Marriage campaign, led by the Equality Network, the Love Equally campaign led by the Scottish Youth Parliament, LGBT Youth Scotland and the NUS Scotland LGBT Campaign.   Since launching in 2008, the Equal Marriage campaign has received backing from politicians across the political spectrum, including the Scottish Government who have stated they are minded to lift the ban on same-sex marriage.   Opinion polls suggest a majority of Scots support equal marriage, including the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2010 which indicated 61% support versus 19% opposition. This included a majority of respondents following all the major faiths and political parties in Scotland.

THE Catholic Church has warned government ministers that they face a major rebellion over same-sex marriage plans, after sending 100,000 “protest cards” to its parishioners.

The National Secular Society has warned a Surrey council that it is breaking the law by allowing churchgoers to park free while charging everyone else.

Anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to picket in Edinburgh and Aberdeen at the end of October.

The church, which is based in Kansas, intends to picket at talks concerning the ordination of openly gay clergy within the Church of Scotland. 

The first protest will be staged at the Church of Scotland Ecumenical Autumn Conference in Edinburgh on Friday 28 October. The extremist group will then picket at Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen on Sunday 30 October. 

Speaking of the Church of Scotland’s ongoing dialogue about gay clergy, a Westboro Baptist Church press release states: “It’s starting to look like Scotland is doomed!” 

It adds: “What part of ‘Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, it is abomination’ (Lev. 18:22) don’t you understand?” 

Westboro Baptist Church, brought to international attention by Louis Theroux’s documentary The Most Hated Family in America, also plans to picket the funerals of the victims of mass murderer Anders Breivik in Norway.  It claims that picketing the funerals will serve to “warn the living” that the victims “died for your sins.”