Official Report 984KB pdf
Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Pastor Paul Coventry of Greenock Baptist church.
Good afternoon. Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the invitation to lead this time for reflection.
Last Tuesday, the Parliament debated the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, and passionate and emotive speeches were made on both sides of the argument. Members will be glad to hear that, in speaking today, my purpose is not to add to that subject but to comment on a question that is often heard when such important social issues are being wrestled with: what role, if any, do faith convictions play in such discussions? Often, when a politician or a citizen reveals that their position on a subject has, to some extent, been informed or shaped by their religious convictions, those views are dismissed as illegitimate or inadmissible. It is sometimes said that religious faith is a private matter and has no place in the public sphere of ideas.
Yet, where would our nation be had it not been for the men and women of strong Christian conviction who advocated for social change? In previous generations, it was largely those with Christian voices, who had been driven by their faith, who stood at the forefront of prison reform, the abolition of slavery, the end of child labour, the beginnings of the trade union movement and so much more. Perhaps they, too, should have kept their faith to themselves and not interfered in public matters. On the aforementioned difficult subjects of suffering and death, it was her Christian conscience that led Dame Cicely Saunders to found the hospice movement and bring an intensified focus on palliative care. Women and men have been motivated to speak up and to act because of their Christian convictions and their belief in the dignity and value of every human being.
As a Christian, I take seriously the words of Jesus, who said to his would-be followers:
“You are the salt of the earth ... You are the light of the world.”
Back then, in a world without refrigeration, salt was used as a vital preservative to prevent meat from decaying. In a world without electrical illumination, the lighting of a simple oil lamp was necessary to dispel the darkness when the sun went down. The point of Jesus’s metaphors was simply that, in a world that, if left to itself, would tend to decay and darkness, his disciples were to be its salt and its light. He was telling them that they were to prevent decay and to ensure that light shone.
Therefore, we ought not to silence the voice of faith in the public square. Dignity, fairness, equality, compassion are not only natural and commonsense enlightenment values; they are rooted in our Judaeo-Christian ethic, which holds human beings to be made in the image of a loving and a gracious God. May they continue to be unashamedly heard.
Thank you.
Next
Business Motion