British Christian Attorneys Protest U.K.'s Homosexual Rights Legislation
by Ed Thomas
January 11, 2007
(AgapePress) - - A recent nighttime demonstration outside Great Britain's Parliament highlighted the types of grassroots efforts that British businessmen and Christians must now use to protest homosexual rights laws passed in the United Kingdom last year.
These laws, which include banning discrimination in selling goods and services to homosexuals, were implemented in Northern Ireland, Wales, and England in early 2006, despite heavy opposition. Religious leaders in the U.K. say the legislation is forcing them to act against their biblical beliefs.
According to Reuters news reports, a recent attempt to block the laws in Northern Ireland failed overwhelmingly by a vote in Parliament's House of Lords. Faith groups at the recent nighttime rally at Parliament also sent a petition protesting the legislation to England's Queen Elizabeth II.
Brian Fahling is senior trial attorney with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (AFA Law Center). He has read information from the British group, Lawyers Christian Fellowship, which organized the rally, and says the pro-homosexual laws in the U.K. are like "evil twins" of some of the sexual orientation discrimination laws that have been enacted in the U.S.
Brian Fahling | |
And if things continue in their current direction in the U.K., Fahling notes, Christians' freedom of conscience and free speech could be threatened. "It would be exceedingly problematic," he asserts, "even beyond what we've seen occur in this nation, if there is an effect in the law that would make it unlawful for a Christian to refuse to promote homosexual practice." The AFA Law Center spokesman says the British advocacy group opposing these homosexual rights laws is made up of Christian lawyers whose concern is that the regulations will not only make it unlawful for believers to refuse to promote homosexual practice, but that even positive biblical teaching could be outlawed in the interest of pro-homosexual tolerance.
In other words, Fahling explains, the Lawyers Christian Fellowship members fear that homosexual rights laws in the U.K. could ultimately curb public expression of Christian beliefs regarding homosexuality. The attorneys fear the legislation could even "make it unlawful for children in any schools to be taught the importance of marriage above the importance of practicing homosexual relationship," he says.
According to Reuters, a recent attempt to block the laws in Northern Ireland failed overwhelmingly by a vote in the House of Lords. So, with the British Parliament seemingly determined to keep the legislation in place for now, Fahling says the answer to the problem may rest with the British church and its ability to help change hearts when government leaders fail to uphold Christian values.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
