Large fine for refusing to supply same sex wedding cake upheld in Oregon

“There have been a number of ‘wedding industry’ religious freedom cases arising in the United States and the UK over the last few years.

On 28 December 2017 the Oregon Court of Appeals, in Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries … upheld a $135,000 fine levied on the Kleins, wedding cake makers, for declining to make a cake for the wedding of Rachel and Laurel Bowmen-Cryer.

The case is another example of religious freedom (and, arguably, freedom of speech) being over-ridden in the name of ‘dignitary harm’ to same-sex couples. It is a good example of the issues being presented to the current Ruddock Inquiry into Religious Freedom being conducted in Australia at the moment. …”

– At Law and Religion Australia, Assoc. Professor Neil Foster takes a look at the Oregon wedding cake case.

He writes, “Attempts to learn from overseas experience and provide a clear legislative solution to the issues were defeated in the passage of the legislation enacting same sex marriage for this country.” He encourages Australian readers to make their views known to the Ruddock Enquiry.

Why I can’t in conscience write for the Church of England Newspaper any more

“I have been contributing articles regularly for the Church of England Newspaper (CEN) for the past ten years and have found its editor Colin Blakely very congenial to write for.  He is courteous to his writers in contrast to the editors of a couple more thoroughly evangelical publications I have written for.

It is a personally wretched decision for me to have to stop writing for Colin. But his decision to become a trustee of the Ozanne Foundation, which is actively campaigning to change the received biblical teaching of the Church of England on sexual ethics, has made this necessary. …”

– The Rev. Julian Mann, Vicar of the Parish Church of the Ascension, Oughtibridge in Sheffield Diocese, explains his decision, at Anglican Mainstream. (Photo: Julian Mann with Archbishop Ben Kwashi.)

Related: Workers and Wolves – William Taylor on Romans 16:1-23.

Update: Kevin Kallsen and Gavin Ashenden discuss the Ozanne Foundation fallout at Anglican Unscripted #358 – Just Jesus, not ‘just love’ silly.

Senior CofE bishop to front campaign for LGBT inclusion

“The Bishop of Liverpool, Rt Rev Paul Bayes, is to chair a new charity aimed at promoting greater acceptance of LGBT people by working with religious organisations around the world. He has said

He has been named as chair of the Ozanne Foundation, whose director Jayne Ozanne is a high-profile Anglican activist for LGBT inclusivity. …”

– Report. (Photo: Diocese of Liverpool.)

One of the Trustees of the pro-LGBT organisation is Colin Blakely, Editor of The Church of England Newspaper, while Steve Chalke is a member of the Council of Reference.

Related:

As Christ is to His church – William Taylor (Video, 2013).

Confidence in God and the word he has given us – Mark Thompson (February 2014).

Appointment of American Bishop leads to split with Nigerian Diocese – Reform statement (May 2016).

‘Get with the Program’ — The Church of England votes to ordain Women Bishops — 2014

“Writing about the age of John Milton, the British author A. N. Wilson once tried to explain to modern secular readers that there had once been a time when bishops of the Church of England were titanic figures of conviction who were ready to stand against the culture.

‘It needs an act of supreme historical imagination to be able to recapture an atmosphere in which Anglican bishops might be taken seriously,’ he wrote, ‘still more, one in which they might be thought threatening.’…”

– This 2014 piece from Albert Mohler is worth re-reading to remember how much has changed in such a short time in the Church of England.

And do pray for those gospel-minded leaders in the C of E, that they will be filled with wisdom, and will stand firm in the faith.

Related:

St. Helen’s Bishopsgate relationships with other deanery churches ‘temporarily impaired’.

Anglican Unscripted #357 – Welby revokes Carey’s Permission to Officiate.

‘New Bishop of London … refuses to say where she stands’

“The controversial new Bishop of London refused yesterday to say where she stands on the the Church of England’s most damaging division.

The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally left tens of thousands of worshippers in her new diocese guessing about her views on gay rights after giving a high-profile broadcast interview. …

Bishop Mullally said the CofE has ‘a real diversity’ and is entering ‘a period of reflection’.

Bishop Mullally withheld her own thinking in an interview for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme in which she was repeatedly pressed for her opinion. …”

– Story from Mail Online. Photo: Diocese of London.

Related:

Which Way, Evangelicals? There is Nowhere to Hide – Albert Mohler.

“There will be no place to hide. The forces driving this revolution in morality will not allow evasion or equivocation. Every pastor, every church, and every Christian organization will soon be forced to declare an allegiance to the Scriptures and to the Bible’s teachings on marriage and sexual morality, or to affirm loyalty to the sexual revolution.”

When ‘Discernment’ Leads to Disaster – Albert Mohler.

Bishop-elect’s radio interview struggle reveals Church’s unresolved dilemmas – Andrew Symes.

“She would have known that it would come. She would have prepared for it, rehearsing her lines, perhaps with coaches, wanting to appear wise, generous, compassionate, authoritative. It came, finally, at the end of the interview; the dreaded ’Tim Farron question’ – ‘do you think homosexual relationships are sinful?’

Like an England batsman in the nets in Australia she had practiced for this moment … I felt for her as she attempted to answer the inevitable question, and she flannelled and waffled, a combination of the cringeworthy and the hilarious (see transcript below).”

Listen from 1 hour 52 minutes into the audio.

Religious groups and employment of staff

“Can a Christian secondary school require that its teachers not openly advocate a sexual lifestyle that is contrary to the Bible’s teaching? Can an Orthodox Jewish preschool ask its teachers to live in accordance with Orthodox moral principles? Can a Protestant church refuse to hire someone to act on its behalf in political advocacy when that person does not share their religious beliefs?

These are all issues that have come up in recent months. Two of them are dealt with in decisions in connection with judicial proceedings, one in the UK and one from the European Court of Justice. One has been raised by media reports in Australia. In this post I want to flag these three cases briefly and to comment on the issues they raise for religious freedom, and how they should be resolved. …”

– Valuable resources from Assoc. Professor Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia.

The Slippery Slope was a Precipice after all

“For all the talk of slippery slope arguments, when it came to it the same sex marriage decision in Australia was not a slippery slope. It was a precipice after all.

And in such times we need precipitous thinkers. We need leaders in our church who are not content to wait for the cultural changes to come our way, dodging and weaving until the last minute, but who lean into the changes and prepare their people with the ropes and tackle a precipice requires. …”

– Stephen McAlpine writes to encourage Christians and Christian leaders in the face of what is to come.

Franklin Graham isn’t preaching in England for another nine months, but already he’s getting trashed

“Here’s how the piece by Harriet Sherwood began:

Opposition is mounting to a planned visit to the UK by a leading American conservative evangelical Christian who has made Islamophobic and anti-gay statements, with critics saying it will promote prejudice and damage interfaith relations.

Several MPs, including a government minister, have urged the home secretary to consider refusing UK entry to Franklin Graham, with some suggesting his comments contravene British laws on hate speech. …”

– at GetReligion, Julia Duin writes about the UK campaign against Franklin Graham.

Photo: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Christians in the Community of the Dome by Julian Mann — review

“This is a fascinating, creative and insightful little book which you should not read if you wish to remain undisturbed, feeling secure behind the rose tinted spectacles that many evangelicals, especially in the Established church, are now wearing.

The Dome referred to in the title, is the Millennium Dome, built under the guiding hand of Peter Mandelson, Prime Minister (‘Call me Tony’) Blair’s chief advisor and the main architect of the rebranding of the Labour Party as ‘New Labour’. …

This highly readable, thought provoking and penetrating book is to be highly recommended …”

– At Anglican Mainstream, Melvin Tinker has reviewed Christians in the Community of the Dome by Julian Mann.

There’s another review – by Rob Slane – at The BlogMire:

“So where are we heading? Towards the end of the book, Julian gives us three fictional scenarios which imagine this.

The first gives us the Islamic future, in which Britain officially becomes an Islamic State with a Wahhabi ideology in 2040.

The second, written by Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream, pictures a Britain which – largely due to the feebleness of the 20th Century Church versus the ferociousness of the Cultural Marxists – has become both totally secular, and utterly draconian.

The third scenario sees Julian imagining himself as an old retired minister in 2050, both surprised and thrilled to see a genuine revival of Christianity, together with the undoing of a massive amount of destructive social changes that had occurred throughout his lifetime.”

And our earlier post.

This book may be far more relevant to Australia than you might imagine.

Christians in the Community of the Dome by Julian Mann, ISBN 978-1783972104, is available from a variety of booksellers. These prices include shipping to Australia.

More Australian same sex marriage implications — the “monitum” and “rogue priests”

“With the commencement of the legislation adopting same-sex marriage for Australia today, 9 December, it seems worthwhile to note some more implications, following my initial comments on the change.

The two I would like to address here are the changes to the ‘monitum’, the summary of Australian marriage law required to be recited by some celebrants; and the possible issues surrounding what I will call “rogue priests”, clergy in one of the mainstream Christian denominations who may wish to solemnise same-sex marriages when their denomination adheres to the historic Christian position that marriage is only between a man and a woman. …”

– At Law and Religion Australia, Assoc. Professor Neil Foster considers further implications of the decision to legalise same-sex marriage.

Same Sex Marriage legislation — Sydney Diocese Media Statement

Anglican Diocese of Sydney

Media Statement

As previously acknowledged, I recognise the mandate of the Parliament to legislate for Same-Sex Marriage.

However, we are disappointed the votes against reasonable amendments did not reflect the concerns of significant sections of the community.

We appreciate the Prime Minister’s pledge to consider seriously the issues of freedom of speech, conscience and belief and await a timeline and terms of reference for the upcoming Ruddock review.

These issues are of vital concern to Australians of various faiths and of none, including the more than 1 in 3 Australians who voted No in the postal survey.

Archbishop Glenn Davies

Friday, 8 December 2017.

Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.

Australia adopts same sex marriage: law and religion implications

“Legislation re-defining marriage to include same sex couples passed its final third reading stage in the Commonwealth House of Representatives this evening Australian time, December 7. The Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 will soon become law when it receives the Royal Assent.

In this post I want to start exploring some immediate implications for religious freedom and other ‘law and religion’ issues. …”

– Associate Professor Neil Foster shares some insights into the same-sex marriage legislation passed today.

He also addresses the idea that Bible-believing ministers should “‘hand in their license’ and no longer participate in solemnising any marriages for the purposes of the Marriage Act.”

Passing of Smith Bill shows Disregard for Freedoms — Coalition for Marriage

“The passing of the Dean Smith bill unamended through the House of Representatives today was evidence of the disregard that many MPs have for the freedoms of Australians and the upholding of international human rights obligations, the Coalition for Marriage said today.

‘It is deeply disappointing that both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader reneged on the assurances they gave to the Australian people during the marriage campaign,’ Coalition for Marriage spokesman, Lyle Shelton said. …”

– Read the full media statement from Coalition for Marriage here.

When freedom has been taken away

“What can we do? This is a question I’ve been asked several times since we lost the plebiscite battle for the definition of marriage.

Last week’s rejection of freedom of speech by the Senate has sent shock waves through churches, mosques and Christian and Muslim schools.

The House of Representatives, which is this week debating Liberal Senator Dean Smith’s same-sex marriage bill, is unlikely to improve things. …”

– Lyle Shelton at the Australian Christian Lobby writes about the challenging days ahead.

See also: Religious freedom protections must not be delayed – Freedom for Faith, 27 November 2017.

 

Our freedoms are too precious to sacrifice for same-sex marriage bill

“Based on recent events in Canberra where Turnbull’s Labor-lite co-conspirators refused to entertain any amendments to the same-sex marriage Act, it’s clear the approach is winners take all.

Not only does ramming the legislation through parliament show disrespect for the approximately 40 per cent of Australians who voted no to same-sex marriage, it also shows appalling disregard for the need to protect the liberties and freedoms we once took for granted. …”

– Dr. Kevin Donnelly writes this opinion piece in The Herald Sun. (Link via SydneyAnglicans.net)

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