Christian Institute warns Stormont committee it is 'blind to consequences' of equality law changes
A Christian lobby group has warned a Stormont committee that its proposals to “fill gaps” in equality legislation would be “entirely blind to the consequences” on religious freedoms – because of how MLAs have conducted their inquiry.
The Christian Institute (CI) has told politicians on the Executive Office (TEO) committee that a proposed single equality law in Northern Ireland could have unintended consequences – including churches having “to be running off to lawyers” before they allow volunteers to “pour cups of tea or hand out orders of service”.
The Stormont committee has been looking at “gaps” in equality legislation, with some parties seeking a single equality act in Northern Ireland – such as is already in place in Great Britain.
In a letter sent to the MLAs on the committee, seen by the News Letter, the CI warned it “not to make recommendations to the Assembly on which stakeholders have had no opportunity to input”. It said not all stakeholders had been given an opportunity to give their views – and any proposal to fill gaps in equality law “will not have received the necessary committee scrutiny”.
The TUV say some on the committee are in ignorance of “profound issues” in both domestic and European law relating to freedom of speech.
When the CI gave evidence to the committee in February, there were heated scenes over whether equality law protections for workers should apply to volunteers at organisations such as churches. Questions emerged about whether churches could retain protections to dismiss people from positions if they weren’t living by their teachings.
Sinn Fein MLA Carál Ní Chuilín said the CI was saying “gays don’t apply” – a claim rejected by Sam Webster, the CI’s solicitor advocate. He said it was about “conduct consistent with the doctrinal teaching of a church” – arguing that faith organisations have the liberty under UK law “to ensure that those who hold particular positions in the church abide by the teaching of the Church”.
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston told the News Letter: “I have not been on the TEO Committee for the entirety of the evidence having only joined after Jim Allister’s election to Westminster. However, it soon became clear to me that while many worthy organisations and groups presented evidence to the committee there were others who were out to push a particular agenda.
“The reason for this is correctly identified by the Christian Institute who have highlighted the fact that the committee’s inquiry has been wrong headed in a way because we have only asked about what the gaps in equality legislation are. We haven’t given any consideration to what the impact of filling those gaps would be once they have been identified.
“It is important to remember that there are particular interests who have framed the language around equality in official circles and these tend to be organisations which are pushing for societal change.
“The classic example of this is the ‘equal marriage’ campaign which obviously pushed a particular agenda when it came to redefining marriage. The ‘gaps’ in the changes to the marriage law which have been left relate purely to the protection of religious belief. Removing those ‘gaps’ would obviously have profound ramifications for people of faith.
“I will be pushing for the committee to produce its report - much of which I suspect I will disagree with - while recognising that having identified what they believe to be gaps there needs to be a further exercise for the committee in gathering evidence on how legislating in those areas will impact the community.
“There are profound issues in relation to both domestic and European law when it comes to freedom of speech and religion involved here which it would appear some on the committee don’t care about or are in ignorance of.
“To react with a ‘no gays need apply’ comment when reminded that churches and faith organisations have a right to expect that volunteers working for them live lives which are consistent with Biblical teaching shows how little regard some on the TEO committee have for people of faith.
“I believe we are headed for a situation where the committee report needs a big health warning stamped on the front of it that we haven’t given consideration to the actual impact of what the proposals will be on all of society and we haven’t consulted at any point on proposals which emerge from the inquiry”.