Speak or be silent

A Christian magistrate, by simply stating that in his estimation a vulnerable child who is about to be adopted needs a mum and a dad rather than gay parents, has been suspended from sitting on family court cases.  It’s been assumed that he was influenced in his decision by his Christian beliefs and was therefore bigoted and prejudiced against same-sex adoptive parents.  By supposedly discriminating against them he’s been ordered to go on an equality training course before he is allowed back in the courtroom.  His crime is considered to be serious misconduct.

Richard Page JP, who has been a magistrate for 15 years with an unblemished record, has been penalised by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice for upholding the traditional view that a child’s best interests lie in being raised by both a mother and a father. 

Sadly, this case is not the only one where Christians have been discriminated against because of their beliefs.   Christians are increasingly finding that their views are in contradiction to majority opinion – or to those with the loudest voices.  Today, committed Christians in every walk of life have to decide whether they will stay silent and keep their heart-felt convictions to themselves, or not.  If they speak out, even ‘off the record’ and express controversial opinions which violate the equality laws, such as children need a mum and a dad, they are in serious danger of reprisals from their employers and professional bodies.

Richard Page has commented that there is huge pressure to conform, since any view other than the party line is completely unacceptable in our society. 

Since making the decision I have been put under huge pressure to conform to the conclusions that others wanted me to reach but I knew that I had to dissent, for the sake of that child. Christian faith demands setting aside ideologically convenient conclusions and fighting for the best interests of children.

Yet the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention guarantee not only freedom of belief and conscience, but also the right to manifest such belief in public or in private.  Britain subscribes to both, but the Government and law officers are intent on preventing Christians from manifesting their belief in the public sphere.  They are also violating the UK Human Rights Act by such behaviour.  As Mr Page commented to the Mail on Sunday:

Why do you have magistrates if there isn't a different view that they can have?  We all have views and that’s what you have to bring to decision-making, and mine are Christian views.

What Richard Page is facing, along with all sincere Christians, is a clash of ideologies.  The Christian world view is at odds with the ideology behind the Equality Law, which Page is accused of violating.  When required to choose between God and ‘Caesar’, Page chose God and was penalised for it. 

Inevitably, that choice will confront us all, in whatever walk of life we’re in.  Jesus warned us that as the End of the Age approaches, believers will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death and they will be hated by all nations because of him (Matt 24:9).  We must be clear where our ultimate allegiance lies, knowing it won’t be a popular choice. 

Comments

There are currently no comments on this post

Post a Comment

Your comment will have to be approved by a site administrator before it is shown on the site so please be patient.