{"id":9013,"date":"2013-01-31T14:45:22","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T21:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/?p=9013"},"modified":"2014-12-29T21:55:36","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T04:55:36","slug":"will-legalizing-gay-marriage-in-britain-result-in-coercive-attacks-on-freedom-of-conscience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/2013\/01\/will-legalizing-gay-marriage-in-britain-result-in-coercive-attacks-on-freedom-of-conscience\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Legalizing Gay Marriage in Britain Result in Coercive Attacks on Freedom of Conscience?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Great Britain\u2019s government will vote soon on gay marriage. <\/strong>Christians have expressed concern that such a change in the law might result in attacks on freedom of conscience.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the measure have rushed to assure the public that such fears are groundless.<\/p>\n

Now, where have we heard things like this before?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh yes. It was President Obama, promising that Obamacare would not infringe on religious freedom and individual rights of conscience.<\/p>\n

That was only a few months before a hand-picked committee of the Health and Human Services Department \u201cpassed\u201d the HHS Mandate, which the same president who had made these promises signed and then misrepresented to the American people as being about \u201cwomen\u2019s health care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good luck, British Christians. Judging by what has happened elsewhere, you\u2019re going to need it. <\/strong><\/p>\n

A Christian Post article concerning the upcoming vote on same-sex marriage and freedom of conscience in Great Britain says in part:<\/p>\n

UK Government Source: Teachers May Face Firing for Refusing to Teach Gay Marriage
\nKatherine Weber (\u201cThe Christian Post,\u201d January 25, 2013)<\/p>\n

As Great Britain\u2019s government prepares to vote on a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, an official from the Secretary of State for Education\u2019s office reportedly has expressed trepidation toward the bill, arguing that primary school teachers in the country could possibly lose their jobs if they do not teach about gay marriage in the classroom.<\/p>\n

One unnamed senior source from the office of Michael Gove, who serves as the country\u2019s current Secretary of State for Education, has recently said that ultimately the U.K. government is not in control, should a teacher lose their job for refusing to teach same-sex marriage, and the case would ultimately go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, where the European Parliament is located.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had legal advice, the problem is that there is this inherent uncertainty about such matters,\u201d the source told The Telegraph in a Jan. 25 report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are all under the control of nine guys in Strasbourg, it is just fundamentally uncertain because Britain isn\u2019t in control of this,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

Additionally, those critical of the upcoming same-sex marriage bill argue that hospital chaplains and other people in authority may be faced with difficult decisions when their conscience conflicts with their work protocol.<\/p>\n

These statements come after human rights specialist Aidan O\u2019Neill of the Queen\u2019s Counsel argued on behalf of the Coalition For Marriage, a group that opposes same-sex marriage legalization, that he believes teachers, hospital or prison chaplains would be negatively affected by the legalization of the bill.<\/p>\n

However, in response to these worries, Maria Miller, Secretary of Culture and Great Britain\u2019s equalities minister, recently stated that teachers and the Church of England will not be put in a compromising position due to the same-sex marriage bill.(Read more here<\/a>.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great Britain\u2019s government will vote soon on gay marriage. Christians have expressed concern that such a change in the law might result in attacks on freedom of conscience. Supporters of the measure have rushed to assure the public that such fears are groundless. Now, where have we heard things like this before? Oh yes. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1144,10,516,44,726,538,8,520,41,48,1304,548,1,46],"tags":[585,937,214,679,2356,296,298,2357,356,2152,2358],"class_list":["post-9013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america","category-calling-evil-good","category-catholic","category-culture","category-family","category-following-christ","category-health-care","category-hhs-mandate","category-marriage-2","category-politics","category-pro-life","category-religious-freedom-2","category-same-sex-marriage-2","category-uncategorized","category-feminism","tag-birth-control","tag-freedom-of-conscience","tag-gay-marriage","tag-great-britain","tag-great-britain-and-gay-marriage","tag-obama","tag-obamacare","tag-parliament-and-gay-marriage","tag-religious-freedom","tag-united-kingdom","tag-womens-health-care"],"yoast_head":"\nWill Legalizing Gay Marriage in Britain Result in Coercive Attacks on Freedom of Conscience?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Great Britain's government will vote soon on gay marriage. 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