George Carey On Tolerance.

Former A of C.

For most of my lifetime, the beliefs of the four Christians involved in today’s case would have earned widespread respect. Each of them would have been regarded as pillars of the community.

Now, however, they and many others are the new heretics. Indeed, it seems the secular equivalent of the Inquisition will brook no dissent from the reigning orthodoxy of diversity and equality.

The past three Prime Ministers – David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair – have all loudly lauded tolerance, which they name as chief among the British virtues.
In fact, during all their premierships, the number of new laws concerning hate speech and equality regulations have shot up – thus shrinking the space for public debate.

Chillingly, Christians like those who go to Strasbourg today above have been sacked and disciplined for expressing their views. Roman Catholic adoption agencies have been forced to close or conform under the notorious Sexual Orientation Regulations of 2007, which decreed that Catholic adoption agencies could no longer follow their faith convictions by placing children with married couples, and have to allow homosexual couples to adopt, too.

In 2008, two Christian ministers were even threatened with arrest after handing out gospel leaflets in Birmingham, with police officers telling them their actions amounted to a ‘hate crime’.

The tolerance which philosophers Voltaire and JS Mill wrote about in the 18th and 19th centuries allowed competing and fiercely opposed views to occupy the public square. The elusive value of ‘tolerance’ was more than a vague and wishy-washy buzzword.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197862/How-hate-crime-faith-Christ.html#ixzz25THbhZZ8