NO FOSTERING FOR CHRISTIANS

The last day of February brought an astonishing ruling from the High Court. In the case of Eunice and Owen Johns the court ruled that they would not be allowed to foster a child because as Christians the couple would not be prepared to encourage a homosexual lifestyle. The court upheld the objection of Derby City Council which rejected their application despite a long record of previous successful fostering. The two judges involved thus determined that the equality laws could override Christian conscience and prevent Christians from performing a useful and helpful function in society.

This does not mean Christians cannot continue to apply to foster children, but it does mean that if objections are made to them doing so by any council there will be no redress for Christians at law. In practice this means there will be an increasing bar on Christians wanting to foster or adopt if they wish to adhere to Christian sexual ethics.

However, the judgement has gone much further than simply barring Christians at law, since the judges also said clearly that Christian beliefs on sexual ethics may be “inimical to children” (i.e. “harmful”). In this they were explicitly upholding a submission by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission that children risk being “infected” by Christian beliefs. They loudly endorsed the notion that we are now a secular society and the Christian religion had no part in the law of the land. This makes a very strong general statement that Christian parents with traditional Christian views are no longer suitable as foster parents.

This judgement, of course, is manifest nonsense; it simply reveals that the judges were making a political and ideological judgement in favour of one point of view on behaviour over and against another point of view which has had a very long history and still today commands the support of the vast majority of people. They have interpreted “equality” in the most bizarre of ways. What it will really achieve is that lot of children are going to be barred from good homes, and a lot of excellent people willing to foster are going to be disappointed.

It is probably one of the most pernicious and absurd judgements that we have yet seen. It steamrollers over a very crucial factor of real social freedom, namely the right of conscience. This is being done not on account of majority thinking but on account of a minority militant pressure group which not only wants the freedom for their own sexual morals but is demanding that all others fall into line. It has, unfortunately, become part of the very real destructive side of modern political correctness, under the specious cloak of equality.

The most helpful thing we have seen is the very large response to this from all quarters which has labeled this ruling as a disgrace. Many articles in the media have taken this stance. This has not come simply from Christians. Hopefully this may the beginning of a come back to real equality, and sanity.

We have so much to pray over in our nation! We have so much also to speak out about!

Bob

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