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Why can't the voice of Christians be heard?

Why can't the voice of Christians be heard?

By Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali
Mailonline
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html
Jan 18, 2015

So, it has come to this!

For more than 1,500 years, Christianity has formed and undergirded the public law of this land.

Now, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice, by disciplining Richard Page JP, have declared war on even residual notions of the faith having any place in our legal processes.

Until the recent 'equality' legislation, the teaching of the Book of Common Prayer was reflected in the law on marriage. Now, even to allow such teaching to be taken into account, in reaching a legal decision, is said to be 'bigoted' and 'prejudiced'.

This is but the latest in a long line of cases having the effect of excluding Christians from public service and holding public office.

Both 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.

In spite of subscribing to the UN Declaration and the European Convention, and contrary to our own Human Rights Act, the Government and law officers, it seems, are intent on preventing Christians from manifesting their belief in the public sphere.

The implications are wider than that for what is said about Mr. Page could apply equally to Jews, Muslims and others.

The chief law officers of the Crown allege that Mr. Page has improperly allowed his religious beliefs to influence his decision.

It is true that Mr. Page cannot exclude what his faith teaches from his consideration of these matters but, as he says, his decision was not based solely on his religious beliefs, or, indeed, simply because of the sexual orientation of the couple involved.

It was taken for objective reasons in the interests of the child and for the common good.

The highest law officers of the land have not only issued a reprimand to Mr Page but require him to receive remedial training. This smacks to me of the 're-education' camps so beloved of totalitarian Marxist states.

Is this the way to promote liberty or is freedom of speech and belief only for a liberal elite with politically correct views?

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