On 1st July 1999, Sheila Wellington sang the Robert Burns’ song, “A Man’s A Man For A’ That” at the state opening of The Scottish Parliament. 

Fast forward to 22nd December 2022, when most MSPs, including Renfrewshire North and West’s Natalie Don, voted for The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. Now, in the eyes of The Scottish Parliament, a man is only a man if he decides to be one.

The writer J.K. Rowling, who has been outspoken in her opposition to the Bill, said it was a stain on the Parliament. We would go further and say it was the moral low point of The Scottish Parliament and the Bill is a stain on Scotland. Furthermore, as it is clear that most Scots oppose the Bill, democracy was thrown out the window on Thursday.

Scottish churches have a responsibility to re-state that the Bible teaches that God created the distinction between a man and a woman. 

“So God created man in His image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created he them” Genesis 1:27

Even if you do not accept the teaching of the Bible, human history shows that when a child is born into the world, it is either male or female. People even hold gender reveal parties. No matter what may take place in the mind of the person in later years, they cannot change their sex or gender.

There is a recurring phrase in the creation account in Genesis chapter 1 – ‘after its kind’. We cannot plant an apple seed and expect an orange tree in our garden; we cannot buy a chicken egg and hope when it hatches, an eagle comes out of the shell; lions cannot become elephants; tigers cannot become giraffes. Men cannot become women; women cannot become men. The barriers in creation were placed by God from the beginning, and they remain until this day. 

Of course, the Bill reflects a much wider problem in Scottish society, namely the profound shift away from God in civic and cultural life. Solomon, the King of Israel, spoke many proverbs. One of them was:

“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” Proverbs 14:34

We would do well to reflect on where we are as a nation on this moral scale.