“Jesus Christ…the only true hope and solid foundation for our society.” This content is restricted to site members. If you are an existing user, please log in. New users may register below.
“Jesus Christ…the only true hope and solid foundation for our society.” This content is restricted to site members. If you are an existing user, please log in. New users may register below.
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4 responses to “Not Ashamed? Think again.”
I was closely involved in the passage of the Human Rights Act 1998 – the statute that allows people in the UK to enforce their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights in our domestic courts, rather than having to go to Strasbourg. One of the main pillars of the Act was that public authorities (undefined) should have to comply with the Convention Rights. It was all going smoothly until the legislation reached the House of Lords. At the final stage, an alliance of Christian conservative peers, bishops, and others, succeeded in amending the legislation so as to exempt religious organisations from the duty to comply.
In my ignorance, I remember feeling shocked by this: how could the churches not support human rights for individuals? Because they said it would mean that church schools would have to accept gay teachers, and churches would be forced to marry gay couples. The briefing came from a body called the Christian Institute.
What they wouldn’t accept was that, in many respects, religious organisations were acting in a private capacity, and as such would not be caught by the legislation. In so far as they were acting in a public capacity, for example providing education on behalf of the State, there was no reason why they should be treated any differently from any other body exercising public functions.
I’m pleased to say that the Lords amendment was overturned in the Commons, so as to remove the exemption for religious organisations. And the world has not come to an end.
Well it’s almost a year since this group was launched and I have yet to see anyone wearing the badge. Do they still feel “persecuted” I wonder.
Persecution for Christians means quite simply the end of unearned deference and respect, and an end to a legal bolthole which allowed them to use their irrational faith as a basis upon which they could display their religious bigotry. Usually towards groups villified in the Bible, LGBT people in particular.
Well I have news for you anti dicrimination legislation applies to you, magic sky wizards notwithstanding, as much as it applies to the rest of us.
‘Persecution’ is the new religious apologist’s buzz term for “the atheists are now pointing out that our irrational faith in a non-existent entity is indeed irrational”.
“Christians in the UK are persecuted, too, according to Not Ashamed’s “Those Who Have Suffered” page. Needless to say every case mentioned has come about because of the individual’s religious beliefs – not to mention the millions of pounds of taxpayers money wasted on court proceedings.”
Well….if you define persecution as: Not being granted extra, undeserved or special privileges from laws, rules and regulations that everyone else has to follow, (for good reason such as Health and Safety, or anti-discrimination laws) simply because of their religious beliefs which, we now know, have no basis in reality as “persecution”, then they are!
However reasonable, rational and intelligent people don’t define persecution that way!