eurealist.co.uk

Within the next few months Sexual Orientation Regulations, are to be introduced following the EU Equality Act 2006, this will make it an offence for anyone providing goods, services, facilities, education or public functions to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation. But the Equality Act also outlaws discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief.

So what happens when one person’s liberty not to be discriminated against conflicts with another’s to express a contrary opinion and practice the rules of their religion?

There are faith groups who consider the regulations to be an infringement of their liberty to observe the convictions of their faith. Who see this not as a creation of equality, but merely the transfer of discrimination from one group to another

Although the Government has indicated that it is prepared to grant an exception from the regulations for “organised religion”, evidence of recent police action shows that their interpretation of the new laws is likely to be very strict, and only apply to actual religious services within the religious buildings.

The Lawyers Christian Fellowship has proposed an amendment to guarantee in law that adherents to Christianity, Judaism and Islam would not be forced to “promote, assist, encourage or facilitate homosexual practices”. That would mean that in day to day life they would be allowed to ignore the law.

But then why should churches have the right to do something for which the rest of us would face prosecution? Is religious opposition to homosexual behaviour any more reasonable than an atheist’s objection?

As the Telegraph says “These are the murky waters that we enter when we seek to enshrine more and more “rights” in legislation. The lawyers are about to have a field day”.