This is an astounding statement which, without giving any justification, assumes Christianity cannot be 'objectively true' and that it should be illegal, even in a faith school, to teach that Christianity and its principles are 'objectively true'.
The JCHR instead say that it will be sufficient for a school to be able to 'describe' that one religion believes X about sexual morality, while another religion believes Y - allowing this sort of description while denying the right to promote a Christian view does not allow a school to have a religious 'ethos' (as the law currently allows) in any true sense of the word.
The JCHR suggest that it will be illegal for faith schools to teach that the Bible is right in what it says about sexual morality.
5. "During the passage of the Equality Act, the House of Lords removed harassment on the grounds of religion or belief from the Bill [...] In our view, however, different considerations apply in relation to sexual orientation, race and sex, because these are inherent characteristics. We therefore welcome the inclusion of harassment [...] within the Northern Ireland Regulations and we recommend that it also be included in the forthcoming Regulations for the rest of Great Britain" (paragraph 56).
Firstly, the JCHR claim that a person's sexual orientation is the same as their race or sex as an 'inherent characteristic'. This is of course a completely unfounded claim with no basis in science: whilst there is indisputable proof that race and sex are genetic, it is obvious that sexual orientation is not comparable in this regard, not least because no-one can change their race or sex whereas many people have felt oriented/tempted to same-sex relationships, as well as having felt oriented to heterosexual relationships.
Secondly, the JCHR encourage the Government to go beyond their current proposals by creating a law making harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation illegal, whilst they recommend that there should be no such law making harassment on the grounds of religion or belief illegal.
It is perhaps not surprising that the JCHR report promotes homosexual rights to such a degree whilst relegating the right to live out the Christian faith: one of the 11 members of the committee was MP Evan Harris, honorary President of the Lib Dem Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Rights as well as vice-president of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.
The fact is that the report of this Committee will be reported to the Government and other politicians unchallenged in its assertions, unless Christians take the time and effort to stand up and explain the truth that while unjustified discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation must rightly be opposed, for the benefit of society Christians must be free under British law to lovingly and compassionately hold to the clear teaching of the Gospel that God created sexual relationships to be enjoyed only within a monogamous heterosexual marriage.
Please contact your local MPs and Peers to make this point, as well as contacting Ruth Kelly and the Department for Women and Equality (see contact details below) to stand up for truth. Use the link below to find lobbying information (such as finding the contact details of your local MP).
Links
·The Joint Committee on Human Rights report into the SORs can be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/
·A central page with documents on how to lobby MPs and Peers, including advice on finding contact details for MPs and Peers, can be found at http://www.christianconcernforournation.co.uk/
