Memoranda from Jim Fear and Peter Green (CJ&I 212)

 

 

We write with Christian concerns regarding an Amendment to the above Bill. The Amendment, to cover incitement to hatred against persons on the basis of their sexuality, was proposed by the Rt Hon Mr Jack Straw during Second Reading of the Bill in the House of Commons on Monday 8 October 2007. We were encouraged by Mr Straw's assurance, given during that debate, that the Amendment would need careful drafting to ensure that it did not present a hindrance to freedom of speech.

 

As believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are opposed to incitement to hatred, or bullying in any form or circumstance; the outshining of God in His Gospel is evidence that He hates sin, but loves the sinner. His desire is that we all may be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

 

Our disquiet however is that, because of the Amendment, we may not be able, without fear of redress, to name all immoral practices as sinful, in the rare instances where we feel compelled to do so. Christian teaching in The Holy Scriptures is abundantly plain about God's abhorrence of homosexual practice, indeed from the outset, in the first chapter of the Bible we are told that: "God created man in His own image......male and female created He them.".

 

We believe that the voice of traditional Christian teaching should be heard as well as that of a vocal minority who seek to promulgate an alternative.

 

We humbly request members of the Committee to have regard to this statement in their deliberations.

 

 

October 2007