Britain will coerce you to render to Caesar the things that are God’s
by Andrew Tettenborn, Rebel Priest blog:
There is a proper boundary between religious freedom and state power. It is defined in the dictum ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. If you do something harmful, like killing unbelievers, breaking up meetings of people you disagree with, or directly impeding good government, the state is entitled to punish you even if you acted in the name of religion.
This is what Tiberius Caesar was entitled to in 25 AD, together with his taxes, and it is what the state is entitled to today. By contrast, if all you do is pray and say what you think to all and sundry, the state should leave you alone, even if others don’t like what you are doing.
There are disturbing signs that the boundary is being moved, and not to religion’s advantage. Last week the High Court upheld an order by a local authority in Ealing creating a 100-metre ‘no protest zone’ outside a Marie Stopes abortion clinic under legislation aimed mainly at suppressing mindless gangs of bored or rowdy teenagers.
The order banned ‘engaging in any act of approval/disapproval … with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means’, including ‘graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling’, and ‘displaying any text or images relating directly or indirectly to the termination of pregnancy’.
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