Exactly. Pain and suffering are not sacred and I cannot understand the mindset of those who believe a human being should endure unbearable suffering and a slow lingering death.

If you do a bit of reading about the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690's you will see a very familiar thread that proves how very narrow puritanical ideology still exists today among those in the community, churches and Stormont who see homosexual human beings as being 'wrong', 'defective' and 'unnatural'. I abhor attitudes to human beings being based on centuries of intolerant theological teachings. So much done in interpreting the 'Law' of 'God' has caused and continues to cause so much grief, prejudice and intolerance.

An example being that marriage has been continually redefined down through the ages, even by the churches. Why can it no longer be redefined today?

I have a problem with this refusal to reconsider the 'redefinition of marriage' because guess what folks - marriage existed long before any religion claimed it. Marriage has been redefined constantly down through the ages because it was not an institution that was implemented only for one reason - procreation - it was implemented originally for the convenience of men and to facilitiate their ownership of property. Women fell into the latter category. Marriage was a way for a farmer or a tribal member to rid themselves of daughter s who were of no use to them, and still is in many cultures today. Marriage was implemented to perpetuate inheritance, bloodlines, manipulate distribution of wealth....the concept of marriage based on love is a relatively modern day thing. The Adam-and-Eve vs Adam-and-Steve argument is nonsense because the former is a myth created to support the religious explanation for creation and as no eyewitnesses existed in the 'garden of eden' to substantiate this fairy story why should it be tolerated that this deluded train of thought be allowed to influence our laws today? marriage was historically a civil agreement and existed to fulfill and serve the needs of early societies long before Jesus walked the earth and long before churches decided to claim it and redefine it. There is no justification whatsoever for why marriage cannot be continued to be redefined today to allow same gender marriage.

What bothers me though pragmatist is that there will be dozens of excuses offered for his actions but had she been able to fight back and possibly have injured him there would have been not one single excuse she could have offered that would have been considered acceptable for her actions. She'd have lost her job no doubt.

Who is anyone to declare that an enduring love between two men or two women is less valid than the love between one man and one woman...? my parents counted among their closest friends two men who lived devotedly together for 46 years until one of them passed away three years ago. What is wrong with these religious fanatics that they cannot accept that adult human beings can be allowed to love the adult human being of their choice?

Yes BT, let's not allow the public to comment about a teacher being murdered in a British school classroom. God forbid some home truths should be told.

I am sickened by this but honestly, how many of us knew this very thing was only going to be a matter of time? my niece is a secondary school teacher in England and tells me that trying to discipline young males that tower over her and are built like rugby players is like trying to tell a rabid pitbull to rollover. They are not afraid of you! these young people are bigger, stronger and aggressive and yet teachers cannot touch them or tell them off because they are classed as 'children' and protected by a myriad of laws. They are minors only because of their age - physically they are adults and now we have tragic proof of what these 'children' are capable of. This young male wont even see a proper prison because he is a 'child'. Just what the hell are some parents doing these days to turn out offspring like this?

Child cruelty is dealt with properly in the court system, scum who behave like the Kirkwood tribe are not. If you have no compassion for an animal being tortured then I fail to see how you have any compassion for child suffering. You are either a compassionate person or you aren't. You quite clearly are not.

Humanely, not burnt to death.