I wrote about the downfall of Humza Yousaf, the outgoing first minister of Scotland. I noted that if the Scottish National Party had any sense, it would choose Kate Forbes, the party’s former finance secretary, as Yousaf’s successor since she is by far the most qualified and capable.

I also noted that, because they are rabidly progressive and don’t have any sense, they are unlikely to choose Forbes, who holds socially conservative views informed by her Christian faith.

A recent piece by columnist Kenny Farquharson in the Scottish edition of the Times of London illustrates my point:

What message would a Kate Forbes first ministership send? That single mothers are sinners? That sex outside marriage is wrong? That ghouls should be allowed to stand in the street outside abortion clinics muttering incantations? That most of us in secular Scotland are going to hell?

What comfort could be drawn from a Forbes first ministership by gay couples, given that this fundamentalist Christian politician has said she would not have voted for equal marriage? How secure would gay people feel about their hard-won civil rights?

Not only are Forbes’s Christian views on pre-marital sex, abortion, and marriage perfectly mainstream, she has also repeatedly said that while she must follow her conscience, she defends the rights of others to do the same.

This is more than can be said for the zealots of the secular religion of social progressivism. Forbes’s critics wrongly assume that, given the opportunity, she would be as intolerant as they are.