From The Christian Institute:
The Scottish National Party (SNP) will lose the support of Muslims if it pushes ahead with plans to redefine marriage, Muslim leaders have warned.
Muslim leaders from across Scotland met Nicola Sturgeon, the party’s Deputy First Minister, at Glasgow Central Mosque to express their position on the issue.
Bashir Maan, a prominent figure in Glasgow’s Muslim community, said: “We have made it clear to Nicola Sturgeon that we have been very pro-nationalist but if they go ahead with this we will not be happy.
Thousands
“There are about five or six thousand Muslims living in her constituency and we hope that she will listen to us.”
Leaving aside the right of *prominent figures* in any *community* to deem themselves the sole spokesman and conscience for that *community*… and leaving aside that highly questionable “we have been very pro-nationalist”.
Even leaving aside that question of “redefining marriage” (somewhat beyond the remits of Open Unionism!), this was the most interesting part of the article for me:
The Scottish Government’s consultation on same-sex marriage received 77,000 responses. Reports indicate that they are 2:1 against any change.
The response, the largest since devolution, dwarfed that of the independence consultation which received just 26,000 responses.
So, almost three times as many people were motivated enough to respond to a consultation on same/sex marriage as to respond to a consultation on separation?!
That poses a serious motivational question not just for the SNP but also the pro-Union side in the debate.
Share on Facebook
5 comments
Skip to comment form ↓
Peter A Bell
July 22, 2012 at 7:52 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
The SNP is not holding a referendum. The Scottish Government is holding a referendum. That referendum does not belong to the SNP. It belongs to the people of Scotland.
Jeff Duncan
July 24, 2012 at 2:09 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
The Scottish Government will not give in to religious intolerance whether it be Catholic or Muslim. All Scotland’s citizens deserve equality. the vast majority of Scots do not subscribe or support the Church of Scotland or Muslim threats towards our elected government.
David Smillie
July 24, 2012 at 10:58 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
The Church of Scotland has made no threats to the Scottish Government or anybody else that I’ve ever heard of. On the other hand the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has been publicly very exercised about the gay marriage issue.
Deirdre Nelson
July 24, 2012 at 2:03 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Just curious- why has at least part of the Muslim community been so “pro-naitonal”? Is it not the case in the rest of the UK that Muslims are very much British? So why different North of the Border?
David Smillie
July 24, 2012 at 11:04 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Scottish muslims have an alternative to British government warmongering in the muslim world.