Christian charity CARE has reacted with concern to the Joint Committee on Human Rights' attempt to redefine what is meant by "religious liberty" in its highly controversial report published this week.

|PIC1|Nola Leach, head of public affairs stated, "The committee is effectively making the case that religious freedom, as per Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, is about belief in one's head and the freedom to worship in religious buildings.

"Thereafter, if ever there is a conflict between manifestation of religious belief and any other right like sexual orientation, there is a first principle assumption that religious freedom is the category that must be compromised."

Daniel Boucher, CARE director of parliamentary affairs, continued: "The truth is that the heart of the Christian faith and freedom to practice that faith has never been restricted to beliefs in one's head or prayer meetings in religious buildings. It has always been about action.

"The work of Christians in welfare service provision has always constituted an absolutely central part of the outworking their faith. Indeed, as the book of James makes clear, 'faith without works is dead.' On this basis reducing the heart of religious freedom down to beliefs in one's head and prayer meetings in religious buildings does not even constitute the erosion of religious freedom but in a very real sense its negation.

"Although the report is ostensibly about sexual orientation rights, it reads rather more as a secularists bid to reduce religious freedom masquerading as support for gay rights. The truth is that any credible definition of religious freedom must embrace a respect for practice which whilst not absolute (See Article 9 (2)), is not overruled as a matter of course whenever there is a conflict with another right."

CARE said that the approach adopted by the Joint Committee seems particularly inappropriate, being released less than one month before freedom day (March 25) when people will celebrate the accomplishments of William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson and others in abolishing the slave trade.

A CARE statement commented: "The abolitionist movement was dominated by Christians whose reason for being there was their 'practical Christianity'.

"Indeed, Wilberforce's most celebrated publication - widely referred to as his 'manifesto' - was a book called A Practical Christianity which makes the point that properly lived the Christian faith should be applied to all aspects of life and especially politics."

The CARE release concluded: "We have every reason to be very grateful that they did not allow their faith to be taxed down to private belief, although there were many like Lord Melbourne who wanted it to be so."