by Tony Rucinski, Coalition for Marriage (Image: Unsplash)
The Government is writing new rules that could bar pastors from leading their churches, over what they preach on the Biblical model for marriage. And since Monday, councils and the police can ask a court for a Respect Order against any adult, street preachers included, whose conduct (including preaching about marriage and sexuality) is likely to cause “harassment, alarm or distress to any person”. Put the two side by side and they make a quiet pincer movement on preaching about real marriage, inside our churches and out on our streets.
Most churches are charities, regulated by the Charity Commission. The proposed rules would let it bar a person from leading a church over views it perceives to “promote or encourage violence or racial or religious hatred”. Its evidence could include “transcripts of sermons”, and views count from before the rules existed.
Out on the street, a Respect Order can ban “anything described in the order”, and breaking one carries up to two years in prison. Conduct likely to distress a single passer-by counts as anti-social behaviour, and nothing in the new law protects preaching on marriage and sexuality. Read that again: if a single passer-by says they feel distressed. And neither jaw of this pincer needs the equally egregious draft conversion practices Bill to pass.