Ashers bakery has won in the court of public opinion
The forthcoming Ashers bakery case which has been ongoing since May 2014, is an opportunity to undo a grievous wrong committed by the courts, in which the law was rewritten.
First, they reinterpreted the law on sexual orientation to mean ‘associative discrimination’.
Effectively the position has changed to mean ideas as opposed to people.
This is a most dangerous line to take and impacts tyrannically upon everyone.
Second, the definition of religious discrimination now means that anyone motivated according to one’s religious beliefs can constitute discrimination on religious grounds.
Effectively this turns the law upside down.
The Ashers case has turned the law from a shield to dagger aimed at the heart of Christian principles.
In effect it asserts that whatever Christians believe they cannot follow.
This is why in the court of public opinion Ashers have won.
We await the vindication.
Rev E T Kirkland, Manse. Ballyclare