The secular inquisition: why must Christian politicians defend their beliefs?

What did Kate Forbes’s supporters expect would happen? When the Scottish finance secretary and Scottish National party leadership candidate was asked whether she would have voted for the legalisation of gay marriage if she had been in the Scottish parliament at the time, she said that she wouldn’t, because as a devout Christian she believes marriage is between a man and a woman. She added that if she became first minister, she would not ‘row back on rights that already exist’.

In response to her honest answer, several of her backers threw their hands up in horror and withdrew their support. One of her own finance ministers said he was ‘unable to continue to support Kate’s campaign’ because equal marriage was one of Holyrood’s ‘greatest achievements’. Others followed suit, all sounding surprised that someone who has always been open about her membership of the Free Church of Scotland might hold true to its teaching even when a big job came along.