Christians Lawyers defend right to believe in ‘One Man, One Woman’ teachings
As the Government continues to develop its proposals to amend the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill to introduce an offence of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexuality, Christian lawyers have continued to express concerns.
by Daniel Blake
Posted: Saturday, October 13, 2007, 9:34 (BST)
As the Government continues to develop its proposals to amend the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill to introduce an offence of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexuality, Christian lawyers have continued to express concerns.
This Bill, which will affect the law in England and Wales, is a threat to the freedom of Christians and others to openly express their views and beliefs about sexuality, the Lawyers Christian Fellowship (LCF) has said.
“We are…convinced that such a law is unnecessary, as homosexuals are already adequately protected from abuse by the criminal law, in the same way that we all benefit from such protection,” Andrea Minichiello Williams, Public Policy Director of the LCF has said.
She explained that the next stage of proceedings is that the House of Commons has convened a Committee to discuss the Bill and decide what amendments should be put to Parliament.
“This Committee will be considering a whole raft of provisions, but one of the issues they will consider is whether to include this amendment,” Minichiello Williams said.
The Committee will begin meeting on Tuesday 16 October, and are scheduled to hear evidence from Stonewall, the homosexual rights lobbyist group which has been advocating this change in the law.
So far no religious representatives have been announced as one of the groups being asked to give evidence to the Committee.
The LCF is urging Christians across the UK to contact members of the Committee before Tuesday to express their concerns about whether this amendment is needed, and the negative effect it would have on freedom of speech and freedom of religion in this country.
“Although Christians do not hate homosexuals but are commanded to love them, they are instructed in the bible to hate sin,” the LCF is promoting. “The bible is also clear that God intended sex to be kept in a marriage relationship between one man and one woman. Many people may find such teaching offensive. They may even find it threatening. But it is an orthodox belief of the Christian Church, and the propagation of such teaching should not be criminalised.”
The LCF added: “Many advocates of free speech would ascribe to the motto ‘I disagree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it’.”
For more information please visit: www.christianconcernforournation.co.uk
and www.lawcf.org
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The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Saturday, October 20, 2007, 17:09 (BST)
A comment re: the report above (13th Oct) that "so far no religious representatives have been announced as one of the groups being asked to give evidence to the Committee."
At the 1st sitting of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill Committee on Tuesday 16th October, David Hanson, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice informed the Committee that Committee members Nick Hurd (Ruislip-Northwood, Conservative) and Sadiq Khan (Tooting, Labour) had discussed whether extra witnesses could be added and that "particular mention was made of the need to include the Evangelical Alliance to give representations to the Committee on some clauses that will certainly create discussion and have already elicited an interesting level of correspondence to hon. Members".
Following a motion, the EA was added to the list of witnesses. Don Horrocks and Louise Brown of the Evangelical Alliance gave evidence to the Committee at its 4th sitting on Thursday 18th October.
The current list of witnesses to be called to give evidence to the Committee also includes Rev. George Hargreaves and "Bible Theology Ministries". The list of witnesses and transcripts of the Committee proceedings are available on the UK Parliament website.
Jo, Abergele, Wales
Added: Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 0:48 (BST)
The right to preach "one man, one woman" is not under threat. The proposed law seeks to combat those who deliberately incite hatred against people on grounds of sexuality. Genuine Christian doctrine, preaching and teaching doesn't have anything to do with deliberately inciting hatred - so the body of Christ should have nothing to fear.
During the Commons debate on the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill on 8th October, Evan Harris MP suggested that the new law be modelled on the wording of the religious hatred provisions that have just come into force under the Race & Religious Hatred Act, emphasising that "the offence must be intentional, and covering threatening language only." Jack Straw, leading the debate for the Labour Government, strongly agreed. (See the Common Hansard transcript for 8th October, Column 68.)
If it's drafted along those lines - with the emphasis on deliberate incitement to hatred - the law will certainly NOT outlaw the things that the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship claim it will. Nevertheless, the LCF and their supporters are free to keep the pressure on the Government to ensure that the thresholds for the new law are kept sensibly high.
Jo, Abergele, Wales
Added: Saturday, October 13, 2007, 17:33 (BST)
Even granting that the Bible is as 'clear' on the sinfulness of homosexuality as the LCF say it is, they propose that this particular sin should be singled out for special treatment, disregarding the fact that the Bible is equally clear on the sinfulness of many other sins. That is surely discrimination.
Jethro, Dublane, Scotland
