Sir,

In response to Mrs. Margaret Howells's letter in the Tenby Observer (March 1): why should Pastor Robert James 'let the matter rest' and cease 'pointless correspondence' when he has an equal right to participate in the marriage debate?

Supporters of same-sex marriage claim to be pursuing 'equality', yet they frequently deny equality in freedom of speech by telling their opponents to be quiet, as Mrs. Howell has effectively done; labelling them as 'bigots', as the Deputy PM Nick Clegg did; or criminalising them as 'homophobes' - a term used by Miss Anne Alton in her letter in the Tenby Observer (February 22).

In response to Miss Alton's view that 'inspired scripture is wonderfully capable of moving with the times': the Scriptures are indeed Divinely inspired and, as such, reveal unchangeable truths about God and humanity which apply to all times and all situations. But they are not a menu from which one can pick and choose according to personal taste or the ever-changing fashions of the day.

Jesus' teaching on marriage is explicitly clear and profoundly liberating: "Have you not read (Genesis 1-2) that from the beginning the Creator created them male and female, and said... 'the two shall become one flesh'?... Therefore what God has joined together, let no man divide" (Matthew 19:4-6).

A Tenby reader.