Kirk’s stance smacks of arrogance

There is a touch of unjustified smugness and arrogance about the claim by the new Moderator of the Church of Scotland that reconciliation is the business of the Church (Scotsman.com, 18 May).

There is not a hint of reconciliation in the claim by the Church that it should retain all its existing privileges in any constitutional changes that might occur as a result of September’s referendum. It still wishes for pre-eminence among churches and, for instance, seeks the retention of seats for itself and other denominations on council education committees

It seems increasingly the case, backed by the views expressed the Equality and Human Rights Commission, established under the UK Equality and Human Rights Act 2010, that the reservation of seats for the Churches of Scotland and Rome on education committees goes against the principles of the act that gives equal status to all religious organisations, philosophies and belief systems.