No Dissent Permitted

The New Heretics

This will be an interesting case to watch.  Four UK Christians are taking a case to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming they were discriminated against in the workplace because of their religious beliefs.  This from The Telegraph:

UK Christians take complaints to court

September 05, 2012
FOUR British Christians who say they lost their jobs because of their Christian beliefs are taking their cases to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. 
 
In a challenge to what former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey described as the "reigning orthodoxy of diversity and equality", the four alleged they suffered discrimination as a result of their Christian values.  Two of the four lost their jobs over their conviction that homosexual relationships are contrary to God's law and that it is incompatible with their religion to do anything to condone homosexuality.

One, a registrar, objected to officiating at civil partnership ceremonies between same-sex couples, while the other, a therapist, did not wish to give counselling to same-sex couples.  The other two - an airline worker and a nurse - fell foul of their employers after wearing necklaces with crosses at work.

Carey said that in most of his lifetime the beliefs of the four Christians would "have earned widespread respect".  But their cases had prompted him to "question whether... faith is a bar to public service".  "In the past, there was space for negotiation between individuals and their employers, but the burden of ever-increasing regulation has meant that questions of conscience and freedom are neglected in favour of conformity," he said.

The four took their cases to the court in Strasbourg after employment tribunals in Britain ruled against them.  Writing in Tuesday's online edition of the Daily Mail, Carey said the four were the "new heretics".  "Indeed, it seems the secular equivalent of the Inquisition will brook no dissent from the reigning orthodoxy of diversity and equality," he said.

A ruling by the Strasbourg-based court is not expected for several months.

We wonder what the employment situation will be for New Zealand Christians who refuse to participate in homosexual marriage enactments for reasons of conscience and are employed by the State--should Wall's Bill pass.