Churches Will Be Forced To Hire Gay Staff

From: The Pen of Matthew Moore

Religious groups [in the UK] are to be forced to accept homosexual youth workers, secretaries and other staff, even if their faith holds same-sex relationships to be sinful.

Christian organizations fear that the tightened legislation, which is due to come into force next year, will undermine the integrity of churches and dilute their moral message. 

It comes amid growing concern that Christians are being unfairly targeted by discrimination laws, following a number of high-profile cases of courts finding against believers who stand up for their faith.

Religious leaders had hoped to lobby for exemptions to the Equality Bill but Maria Eagle, the deputy equalities minister, has now indicated that it will cover almost all church employees.

“The circumstances in which religious institutions can practice anything less than full equality are few and far between,” she told delegates at the Faith, Homophobia, Transphobia, & Human Rights conference in London.

“While the state would not intervene in narrowly ritual or doctrinal matters within faith groups, these communities cannot claim that everything they run is outside the scope of anti-discrimination law.

“Members of faith groups have a role in making the argument in their own communities for greater LGBT acceptance, but in the meantime the state has a duty to protect people from unfair treatment.”

Continue reading. . . .

Christophobia?

Quoting Barbara Kay:

It is now a commonplace under our governing rubric of multiculturalism to worry about discrimination against any and all religions except Christianity. The irony is, of course, that actual hate speech and actions directed against other religions are extremely rare, while Christianity is considered fair game for criticism and even denigration. In short, Islamophobia is a no-no, but Christophobia is a yes-yes.

A fascinating case of Christophobia is detailed in the March, 2009, edition of the monthly arts review, The New Criterion. In their Notes & Comments section, the editors chronicle a cautionary tale that recalls in its implications the Nazi book-burnings of works by Jewish writers in the 1930s.

Continue reading. . . .

Cicero On History

Quoting Marcus Tullius Cicero:

“To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child. For what is man’s lifetime unless the memory of past events is woven with those of earlier times?”

The House Cap And Trade/Global Warming Tax

The point of cap and trade/global warming legislation is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will be forced to use less. These higher prices will be reflected in electricity bills, the gas station pump, and every manufactured good. Consumers will be forced to cut back on spending, which will force businesses to cut back on production, which will cause higher unemployment. Many companies will move their operations overseas to stay in business.

During the time in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee:

“Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them.”

Americans should know that Senators and Congressmen voting for this cap and trade/global warming bill are voting for the biggest tax increase in American history.

Could This Person Be A Member Of Your Church?