Thousands of Christians have resigned en masse from the Lutheran Church in Finland – the country’s national church – in response to its archbishop welcoming “with my whole heart” a parliamentary vote to allow same-sex marriage. Finland is set to become the final Nordic country (and the 12th in Europe) to enshrine marriage rights for same-sex couples. The bill, which originated as a citizen’s initiative, passed by a narrow margin. However, many Finnish Christians remain resolutely opposed to the move; within a day of Archbishop Kari Mäkinen’s comments, 7,800 people had formally resigned from the church, relieving them of their obligation to pay church taxes.

The archbishop did the right thing. Sometimes the right thing comes at a cost, but so be it.  This old-fashioned idea that homosexuality is “lifestyle choice” should be buried and consigned to history. If same-sex marriage brings even a small bit of extra happiness into the world it can only be a good thing. You cannot be an Epicurean and support discrimination of any sort. Epicurus stood for a “live and let live” way of looking at life.