Published inThe Courier & Advertiser 23 Jun 2015
Sir, – I was more than a little surprised to read (June 18) that SNP councillor Gregor Murray claims that his abusive tweets were just his way of standing up to my “bullying”.
Apparently Mr Murray thinks that critiquing the media charade around Caitlyn Jenner and Vanity Fair is bullying, whereas calling the whole Free Church of Scotland, “Wee Frees – an embarrassment to Scotland”, is reasonable and mature debate.
Mr Murray has form in this regard having previously tweeted attacks mocking Catholic Church doctrine.
As a Free Church minister I wish to speak in defence of the Catholic schools in Dundee. It is concerning that the deputy head of education on Dundee City Council feels free to mock the doctrine of the Catholic schools he is supposed to be running.
It is also worrying that he has time to engage in this type of personal online abuse when he should be dealing with the Menzieshill school situation and the other crises facing our city education system.
As an SNP supporter I wrote to the party making a formal complaint and they have assured me that they will look into the matter. That assurance is somewhat undermined by SNP administration head, Ken Guild, stating that because Mr Murray is speaking in a personal capacity then no action will be taken.I wonder if Mr Murray was making racist comments in a personal capacity whether the SNP would be so sanguine?
It seems as though Christians are being told that if any of us dare to speak out for what we believe, then it is open season on us.Am I wrong to expect a little more maturity and fairness from our elected representatives? Or is the phenomenon of the abusive cybernat now to be an accepted part of Scottish political life, even at senior level?
Rev David A. Robertson. St Peter’s Free Church, 4 St Peter Street, Dundee.
This is a follow up to the story below:
https://theweeflea.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/the-most-hateful-man-ive-ever-come-across/
https://theweeflea.wordpress.com/2015/06/18/the-snp-councillor-and-the-free-church-bully/