EQUALITY FOR SOME, BUT NOT OTHERS!
Wednesday 10 February, 2010
World
UK
Politics
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A wake-up call from the Pope over Britain’s legislation
By Dee Pfeiffer
The Pope has branded Labour’s Equality Bill as a ‘violation of natural law’. It’s a brave stand on what many already see as preposterous legislation being driven by a secular, atheist network whose decisions usually fly in the face of common sense and decency. More tellingly perhaps, it came just moments after confirmation that he will visit the UK this September.
Not surprisingly, homosexual activists, pro-choice groups and the National Secular Society have been getting their knickers in a twist over the Pope’s proposed visit and his recent comments. And hot on their heels is the liberal media who applaud free speech – unless they disagree with it.
Take Ian Dunt, the editor of politics.co.uk, for example. He wrote: “If aliens came down to earth to find that an 82-year-old male virgin in a dress is a world authority on matters of sexual morality they would probably turn round and go home, safe in the knowledge that there’s nothing to learn here.”
Substitute the word ‘virgin’ for ‘Muslim’ or ‘gay’ and he would be lynched by the very ‘equality police’ he applauds. It seems that, in spite of Dunt’s tirade against those who, he says, ‘discriminate against homosexuals and women who want to be priests’, there is an element of hypocrisy when it comes to penalising older virgins in the community, or indeed having just a little respect for those who hold different views to one’s own. But of course, this is the crux of the matter, for in a truly equal society, the Pope’s opponents would not deem his views so intolerable that they need to be stifled.
True equality essentially means just that, with everyone having equal opportunities in life regardless of background, colour, sexuality or any other factor. In theory then, equality is good. It’s what we should all expect from a modern, forward-thinking society.
But not when the Government opens the door for the church to be sued by anyone turned away for the priesthood on grounds of gender or sexual lifestyle. Forcing people to act against their own beliefs is not equality. Allowing Christians in employment to be persecuted for praying or wearing symbols of their faith while at the same time promoting the ‘positive’ discrimination of ‘gay pride’ is not true equality.
Some who are uninformed might wonder what’s wrong with the Equality Bill. After all, many have been indoctrinated into believing that anything which includes the words ‘equality’ or ‘tolerance’ is inherently good. But there are many problems with the Bill, most of which involve providing equality to some, but not others. For one, it would render the church powerless to stop priests from entering into civil partnerships, leading to promiscuous lifestyles not in accordance with biblical standards within the very church itself.
In his speech, the Pope said that although Britain is known for its ‘firm commitment’ to equality of opportunity for all, recent legislation has gone too far and is conflicting with the authentic freedoms of religious communities. He told bishops to insist upon their right to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue. Oh yes, dialogue is surely what his announcement is likely to guarantee, but whether it will be respectful is another matter. Secular and homosexual activists are already rallying around in fear and fury to protest against the Pope’s visit, seemingly blind to the fact that attempts to stifle any opposition to their own agenda ironically breeds a deep sense of inequality.
In an equal society which applauds free speech, the Pope should be free to speak about what he believes. But our so-called equality laws already give undue influence – beyond that which their numbers warrant – to minority groups who don’t seem to understand that people have a right to disagree with them.
The Pope’s unprecedented attack on Britain’s equality legislation came on the same day as the defeat in the House of Lords of aspects of the Bill that could have seriously compromised the church – by forcing them, for example, to employ homosexual youth workers.
The Pope has made a brave stand in attacking insidious legislation that threatens not just Catholic churches, but every church that seeks to uphold biblical standards. If only Christian politicians and church leaders in this country were as prepared to speak their minds, we might perhaps have a nation based on biblical correctness rather than its political equivalent.
Photo: Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License
The Revd.Brian Stowe wrote:
The above article is a wake up call to British bishops, and our archbishops, to stand up and speak clearly, and repeatedly, against the nation’s slide into further immoral and irreligious legislation; instead of standing on the touchline, as enemies of the Gospel attack the foundations of Jewish/Christian religious and moral standards and beliefs.
Why is it necessary for the Pope to rally defence whilst our own leaders - both political and religious, appear afraid to raise their heads above the parapet in this war ?
Rene' Taylor wrote:
I applaud the Pope for his and the Catholic Church’s stand, and this should activate something in all Christians to know now that it’s high time we stand for the principles and standards of The Living Word of God! Too many times we have allowed evil to take over for fear of being made to feel as if we are not living in the 21st century, that we’re “behind” in our thinking, and that the “live and let live” mentality is just a first step to make everyone feel comfortable with their sins! After all, what’s wrong with living and letting live, right? Proverbs 14:2 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” The Pope has reminded all of us that it’s time Christians hold to ours hearts “Let God to be true...and every man a liar!”
My hat is off to the author, Dee Pfeiffer, for this piece, and that she has also reminded us that we as Christians, should be IN this world...not OF this world!!
M Suit wrote:
This is another example of the Catholic Church speaking out firmly in support of basic Christian beliefs, while many Anglican Church leaders seem happy to go with the secular flow. I don’t think the Catholics have got everything sorted, but it is so refreshing to see a leader who is prepared to say what he believes despite the PC brigade!
Kevin Yates wrote:
Great article! I’m sure that Catholic Christians would applaud this article! And not just Catholics as the Pope’s message is one for all Christians to remember and to stand by. The Pope seems to be one of the few Christian leaders in Western Europe to actually make a stand for scriptural valued and traditional Christian standards.
I am glad too that the author has sought fit to bring to task the secularist liberal Ian Dunt, editor of some obscure little blog when he seeks to denigrate both the Pope and celibate’s also. What a hypocrite! Still, that’s usual for many of these liberal types who are too blind and dim-witted to see beyond the double-standards and rank hypocrisy of their own belief systems.
Neil Buxton wrote:
Well presented article - and I agree that it is a poor reflection on us that it takes someone from another country to take a stand.
Neville Heath Fowler wrote:
There are many reasons why I will never be a Roman Catholic or recognise the pope as the head of Christ’s Church on earth, and yet I do admire his stand on a number of moral issues. By contrast the weakness, cowardice, and compromise of other church leaders who claim to be God’s ministers shouts volumes about their imposture. I resent the fact that the media always tries to represent the Christian opposition to the growing atheistic and pro-death culture of our nation as being exclusively Roman and then goes further to even portray the pope as being anachronistically isolated within his own communion, when in fact there are millions of Christians, Catholic and Protestant, across the entire spectrum of the faith, who fear for our society and the direction in which it is being dragged. The lesson is that we must each one of us be as firm and outspoken in support of righteousness, not our self-righteousness but the righteousness of God’s standards, as we dare, standing in the armour that He provides (Ephesians chapter 6).
We should not even expect success in this present age. I for one, though appalled, am not surprised at the turn of events. It is just as our God has warned through His prophets of Old and New Testaments. He does not demand success. He demands faithfulness.
Let our cry be ‘Marturoumen!’ We bear witness!
Neville Heath Fowler
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