MY FELLOW correspondent Mark Webb is a man with very firm views on a number of subjects, many of which he powerfully and purposefully articulates in the letters he writes to the Adver.
Sadly, the opening comments of his latest letter (SA 1 Feb) leave him open to a charge of hypocrisy.
I refer to Mark's remarks about the leaders of the Anglican Church in which he claims they were given "free rein to spout of their narrow minded, bigoted attitude to people in the LGBT community".
By "free rein" I suppose Mark means the democratic freedom to have an alternative view to his own or that of another.
I hope he would accept a "difference of opinion" is a perfectly acceptable state of affairs even when the opinion held is a minority one, after all isn't that what Mark is espousing – the right of a minority to have a view which might be contrary to the majority?
Mark suggests the views of some clerics are "bigoted" – he might be right but isn't it the case he is also a bigot, after all the definition of a bigot is "a person who is intolerant towards those holding different opinions".
I suggest Mark's words display an intolerant attitude towards those holding a different opinion to his.
I don't think Mark is right in his view that the views of delegates to the Bishops' Conference on LGBT issues is impacting church attendance in England.
And I am surprised that Mark didn't take the opportunity to point out that the voices raised against the LGBT community were in the main from the African church leadership.
That said, I do agree with Mark that the church (in a wider sense) spends so much of its time navel-gazing that it has failed to address many societal issues to which it could make a significant contribution.
DES MORGAN
Caraway Drive, Swindon