Foster parents defeated by the new Inquisition – Telegraph.
[The following is the full article available via the Telegraph. My brief comments are in a different colour and within square brackets. This is quite an astonishing and possibly a landmark judgement.]
‘Telegraph View: Why has it been left to judges to decide whose rights trump those of others.’ [It’s because Parliament is useless. They have completely lost the plot. If, the ruling, any ruling is in the interest of the child then it seems fairly obvious that the Johns would provide a loving and stable home – Good grief, we hear all the time about how many of society’s problems are rooted in a poor home life. We need children to have safe, stable and loving homes so any sensible person or judge would have seen this to be exactly what the child would have had. There’s no guarantee of that now for this child. It would be worth asking – how many Homosexual, Lesbian or Bi-Sexual couples have applied to Adopt or be Foster carers? I think we should be told some statistics on this. Under the law they could apply – how many have done so? And, what were the judgements?]
‘Eunice and Owen Johns are a God-fearing Christian couple, married almost 40 years, who offered a secure and loving family home to foster children aged between five and 10. But they are to be denied the opportunity to do so any longer because they are unwilling to promote [Going, or gone, are the days of being able to disagree – I think this country is witnessing free speech going down the toilet] a homosexual lifestyle to a child. Neither Mr nor Mrs Johns has anything against gay people [It’s interesting to note how this is being spun by other sectors of the press – as anti-gay not pro family. But it should be remembered there is more going on here. This is much more than a lifestyle choice – this is an ideological assault on Christianity by ideologically driven people within the homosexual & lesbian culture. I suspect some within the homosexual culture want these ideologues to just shut up.] but they are not in favour of sex before marriage, whatever an individual’s orientation [So the Johns are being consistent]. Their views were denounced by Ben Summerskill, of the homosexual pressure group Stonewall, as “old-fashioned”. Yet not that long ago they would have been considered mainstream and they are, in any case, the strongly held religious views of the couple.’
‘The reason that they were even asked about their views on homosexuality was because Parliament passed the Sexual Orientation Regulations, making it an offence to discriminate on the grounds that someone is heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual [Funny how discrimination is moving in the other direction just as was feared – so much for equality!]. These are the same laws under which Peter and Hazelmary Bull, Christian owners of a guest house, were fined last month for refusing to let a gay couple share a room. But in the case of Mr and Mrs Johns, where is the victim? They were not turning anyone away. Quite the contrary – they were offering a home to children who will otherwise end up in care, and there are precious few people who will. Furthermore, since the children would be aged under 10, matters of sexuality are hardly relevant – or is it being suggested that they should be? Astonishingly, the High Court suggested that it was not so much their Christian faith as the moral certainties [Current morals of subjectivity and relativity are obviously doing a splendid job!] of the Johns that were potentially harmful to children.’
‘There is another troubling aspect of this case. Equality laws are supposed to uphold the rights to religious belief. Yet the High Court ruled that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation “should take precedence” over the right not to be discriminated against on religious grounds. Why has it been left to judges to decide whose rights trump those of others? This should have been decided by Parliament but, yet again, another sloppily drafted measure will have far-reaching consequences for freedom of conscience in this country. Already the Roman Catholic Church has had to close its adoption agencies because they cannot conform to the law. Perhaps there is a historical irony here, because we are witnessing a modern, secular Inquisition – a determined effort to force everyone to accept a new set of orthodoxies or face damnation as social heretics if they refuse. Parliament and the courts should protect people like Mr and Mrs Johns, but have thrown them to the wolves. It is a disgrace.’ [My first thoughts at the speed of these developments is this – how long will it be before Christian parents will be seen as a harmful infection in the lives of their own biological children? It’s actually chilling stuff. See the related article titles below for the language of tolerance!]
Related Articles
- Anti-gay Christian couple lose battle to become foster parents (independent.co.uk)
- Anti-homosexuality Christian couple opposed foster care High Court battle (dailymail.co.uk)
- Anti-gay Christians lose court bid (mirror.co.uk)
- Anti-gay Christian couple lose foster care case (guardian.co.uk)
- Homophobes barred from fostering (unreasonablefaith.com)
Sad how this is the case, and where this type of tolerance is taking our culture towards…intolerance.
Good comments as usual Mike. What does this ruling say about us who have brought up children to be law abiding citizens but have told them that homosexuality is wrong? What bad parents we are!!! Unbelievable isn’t it?