We must question 'traditions' - letter

I read N. Pritchard's letter in defence of the Bishop of Shrewsbury's attack on same-sex marriage and was bemused by his view that 'PC bullies' are at the root of the call for change.

Few groups in society have been bullied and persecuted in our society more than homosexuals, so to characterise those helping to redress this wrong as 'bullies' seems to me double-think on an Orwellian scale.

N. Pritchard argues the proposed reform attacks our 'traditional values'. But what is tradition except historical custom and practice?

We have some traditions in this country that I believe are tremendous – jury trials, for instance, and writs of habeas corpus. We've also had some pretty dreadful traditions, such as people having an automatic seat in the House of Lords.

Every generation has the right, if not the duty, to examine and question the traditions of its ancestors.

If this didn't happen, we'd still be suffering such traditions as slavery, burnings at the stake and the divine right of kings.

Steve Parker, Shrewsbury