The "Freedom" of Secular Humanism

. . . And In the Darkness Bind Them

Secular humanism and atheism commenced their campaign to "rule them all" by appealing to tolerance and liberty.  People, we were told,  should be free to embrace causes and ethics which recognize and respect atheist and humanist beliefs in the public square.  The first step represented a "feel good" stage.  The opposition was cast as illiberal and stingy.  In particular Christians were cast as bigots, narrow minded, and holding to outdated, non-scientific beliefs. 

The UK provides a case study of how this has unfolded and played out in the West.  Marriage and family was the first battleground.  At first, under the cloak of freedom, toleration of homosexuality was gradually extended throughout the UK.  In 1967 homosexual acts were legalised in  England and Wales (subsequently extended to Scotland in 1980 and Northern Ireland in 1982.)  In 2001 the age of consent for homosexual acts was lowered to 16 years old. 

The acceptance of homosexuality and homosexual acts was then fleshed out (still under the banner of liberty and freedom).  In 2002 the Adoption and Children Act allowed unmarried and same-sex couples to adopt children.
  In 2003, Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act was repealed.  This section had prevented schools from teaching homosexuality as a normal family relationship.  All this was part of the campaign to achieve legal freedoms and public recognition and approbation of homosexuality. 

Very rapidly, however, the cause moved from appeals to liberty and freedom to demands for compliance and compulsion.  The "one ring to rule them all" rapidly became the "one ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them."  In 2007 all who disagreed would be made to comply.  Enforced tolerance rapidly moved into enforced compliance.  Under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations

Adoption agencies were prohibited from refusing to place children with same-sex couples.  This led directly to the closure of a number of Catholic adoption agencies which had been some of the most successful agencies at getting "hard to place" children adopted.  Those providing bed and breakfast accommodation, including in their own homes, were prohibited from refusing to take same-sex couples.  This led to some Christian B&B owners being specifically targeted by gay rights activists seeking to force them to rent a double room to them.  [Patrick Sookhdeo, The New Civic Religion: Humanism and the Future of Christianity (McLean, VA: Isaac Publishing, 2016),  p.65.]

The whip and bridle of compulsion has been more and more extensively applied.  Christians are being indicted, convicted, and punished for non-compliance with humanism's dictats.  In 2007, again in the UK,

A judge in an employment tribunal overturned the "religious exemption" in the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, fining the Bishop of Hereford 47,000 pounds for refusing to hire a homosexual youth worker on the grounds that his lifestyle was incompatible with Christian ethics.  [Ibid.] 

The true face of the religion of humanism is now being exposed throughout the West.  Secular humanism has moved on from fatuous appeals to liberty.  It is now clear that it carries a whip and chains.  Tolkien would have called it the unmasking of the orcs.