CARE Releases New Equalities Report
From CARE
Today CARE releases the first of two key reports in response to growing political pressures for Christians to keep their faith ‘private.’
Prompted by the introduction of the Government’s new Equality Bill and the EU Equal Treatment Directive – both of which threaten to make life even more difficult for Christians – the CARE report comes with a foreword from the Bishop of Winchester, Rt. Rev Michael Scott Joynt, who expresses concern that the drift of equalities legislation in the UK is increasingly making Britain a ‘cold place for Christians.’
The Report looks at the pressures for the ‘privatisation’ of faith resulting from equalities legislation with respect to employment and goods and services provision and lists a number of recent cases where Christian liberty in the UK has suffered. It is also mindful of the irony of the problem, celebrating the efficacy of public faith in the past. As report author Dan Boucher explained,
‘It is extraordinary that at the very time the Government has introduced its Equality Bill – with all its negative implications for faith – we are about to celebrate the 175th anniversary of one of the greatest achievements of the public manifestation of faith in the history of the UK, the release of all British colonial slaves.’
Nola Leach, CARE’s chief executive, said,
‘We hope this first report in the CARE Equalities Series will help politicians and policy shapers understand the unfortunate impact of recent equalities laws on Christians and the imperative for change. Britain can benefit from the manifestation of Christian belief just as much today as it did in 1834 when the slaves were liberated, but our laws must be fit for purpose.’
‘We also hope that the report will be widely read by Christians and that it will help them gain a greater understanding of the impact of recent equalities legislation, the Equality Bill currently before Parliament and the very considerable way in which public Christianity has benefited the UK in the past.’
The Equality Bill has just completed its Committee Stage in the House of Commons. After its remaining Commons Stages it will go to the House of Lords.
Tags: Christian Persecution