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PLEASE
MAKE YOUR VOTE TOMORROW COUNT
'David
Cameron has undermined Christianity in this country'
say 1 in 3 voters
An
opinion poll published last weekend found that more
than one third of voters (34%) believe that 'David Cameron has undermined
Christianity in this country'.
But is there any basis to this
belief?
On the eve of the European and local elections, we look
back at some of the actions of David Cameron's Coalition Government over the
past four years - in vital areas of life, family and freedom.
Marriage and the family
‘Haven’t
you read,’ [Jesus] replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator “made them male
and female,” and said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” So they are no
longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one
separate.’ (Matthew 19:4 - 6)
In October
2011, David Cameron told his party conference: "I don't support gay
marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I'm a
Conservative."
By July 2013 the Marriage (Same Sex
Couples) Act had received Royal Assent and in March 2014 the first same-sex
'weddings' in England and Wales took place.
In less than two and a half
years, David Cameron's Government discarded God's pattern for marriage and
rejected a definition that had been embedded in our society for hundreds of
years - less than two and a half years from first announcing it to seeing the
first same-sex 'weddings' take place.
And it's worth
remembering:
- There was no commitment to redefining
marriage in the 2010 Conservative manifesto, so voters had no reason to expect
it.
- The Bill was never in a Queen's speech.
- Over 650,000 people signed a petition
against re-defining marriage.
- A majority of Conservative MPs voted against
the bill.
- A series of amendments to protect conscience
were rejected
- The initial consultation suggested that
same-sex 'weddings' in religious services would not be allowed - but this was
later relaxed.
In judging
the response to its consultation, the Government effectively ignored those who
signed the Coalition for Marriage petition (despite earlier assurances that they
would be taken into account) but at the same time included bulk responses that
were pro-same-sex-'marriage' - leading to huge distortion.
If all
petitions had been included, 83% would have been against marriage redefinition;
If all petitions had been excluded, 64% of consultation responses were against.
But by excluding petition responses that were against redefinition whilst
including those that were for re-definition, the government managed to produce a
figure that suggested 53% were in favour of same-sex 'marriage'!
In spite
of all this, David Cameron said that he wanted to help 'export' same-sex
'marriage' around the world, claiming that "we’ve set something, I think, of
an example of how to pass good legislation in good time."
He went
on to comment: "I’m personally proud of this. I think I’m probably the only
Conservative Prime Minister who’s taken this step [of redefining marriage], but
I’m very proud to have taken it."
David Cameron's government has
introduced a small tax-break for married couples and those in Civil
Partnerships. However it is estimated to be worth only about £200 a year and not
all couples are eligible.
The gift of life
‘For
you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I
praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are
wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:13 - 14)
Around 200,000
babies lose their life through abortion every year in the UK. Many other
pre-born children are destroyed through research programmes and IVF
treatments.
In September 2011, following a high profile
campaign to ensure that all women considering abortion were offered independent
counselling, Government minister Anne Milton re-assured the House of
Commons: "the Government support (sic) the spirit of the amendments, and we
intend to present proposals for regulations after
consultation."
However in October 2012, the Government
reversed its position. Government minister Anna Soubry said: "the
simple reality is as follows - we no longer plan to undertake a separate
consultation ... I am sorry if as I say there is some disappointment but the
reality is that we now don't intend to change the law so it is now an otiose
exercise...there is other work we should be doing on counselling. I take the
view that this is not the primary function we should be
addressing.”
In February and March 2012, newspaper
investigations revealed evidence of sex-selection abortions and of pre-signing
of abortion forms by doctors in the UK. However, the Crown Prosecution Service
decided not to prosecute and the Government refused to intervene - despite calls
from MPs of all parties.
In the summer of 2012, without
any public notification or consultation, the Government had secretly introduced
new guidelines for independent abortion providers. This guidance effectively
downgraded the expectation, implicit in the Abortion Act, that two doctors would
see a woman considering abortion, before reaching a decision 'in good faith'. It
was a further liberalising step around abortion procedures.
In
February 2014, the Government published draft guidelines to allow
'three parent babies' to be created in the UK. No other country in the world has
introduced such measures. If the Government presses forward with its intention,
the first babies in the world to have DNA from 3 parents could be born in 2015.
For the first time, this would introduce permanent genetic modification to the
human race, with altered DNA being passed down the
generations.
In April 2014, confidential papers came to
light revealing that the British Government had briefed European law-makers
against the 'One of Us' proposals. 'One of Us' seeks a ban on European funding
for any research that involves the destruction of human embyros. It is the most
successful European Citizens Initiative to date, attracting 1.7 million
signatures. In spite of this demonstration of public support, the UK Government
is opposing the initiative to protect tiny human lives.
Freedom for Christians
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Nurse
Shirley Chaplin
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Gary
McFarlane
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In July
2012, David Cameron told the House of Commons, "I fully support the
right of people to wear religious symbols at work; I think it is a vital
religious freedom."
However lawyers acting for David Cameron's
Government argued against the freedom of
four UK Christians to manifest their faith in the workplace in crucial
cases before the European Court of Human Rights.
In official submissions
to the Court (in the cases of Nadia Eweida, Shirley Chaplin, Gary McFarlane and Lillian Ladele), Government
lawyers claimed that neither wearing a visible cross nor acting in line
with Christian beliefs about sexual ethics are protected by the European
Convention on Human rights - because they are not generally recognised forms of
practising the Christian faith!
Lawyers went on to argue that since
these Christians were free to resign and find employment elsewhere their
religious freedom had not been infringed!
Thousands of people asked Mr
Cameron to intervene but he refused to do so - in spite of his public statement
in support of 'wearing the cross'.
During the passage of the Marriage
(Same Sex Couples) Act, Christian Concern sought to hold a conference
considering the case for retaining the definition of marriage as between 'a man
and a woman'. However, at the eleventh hour we were excluded from the government
owned Queen Elizabeth II conference centre on the basis that the event did not
fit with the organisation's diversity policy.
And now, thanks to the
Same-Sex 'Marriage' legislation we are already beginning to see people face
employment challenges as a result of their Christian beliefs about marriage and
sexual ethics.
At the Christian Legal Centre, we continue to help many
Christians whose freedom to live in light of Christian belief in their
employment and service of others has been challenged. A number of these cases
have received much public attention. Yet in spite of this - and in spite of
David Cameron's public statements about the value of the Christian faith to
Britain - his Coalition Government has not tackled the issue of protecting
Christian freedoms.
Islam
In
October 2013, David Cameron announced that Britain would become the
first non-Muslim country in the world to introduce an Islamic-compliant bond,
known as sukuk. He told delegates of the World Islamic Economic Forum: "I
don't just want London to be a great capital of Islamic finance in the Western
world, I want London to stand alongside Dubai as one of the great capitals of
Islamic finance anywhere in the world."
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali
explained: "This means that the Government itself will be subject to sharia
in its dealings on these bonds. At the moment the issue is pretty modest, but
how much will it grow? There’s a lot of liquidity out there and it could grow
pretty rapidly, and then you may face a situation where a major part of your
financial system is governed by sharia-compliant
considerations.”
Ask the
candidates
It's not too
late to contact your candidates in tomorrow's European and local elections - and
ask them where they stand on these important issues.
You can use our
'Quiz the Candidates' facility to contact European
Parliament candidates from the bigger parties - and you can find details of the
other parties here. Even if the candidates don't respond,
contacting them helps them to know about the issues that are important to
you.
Please pray that God may raise up godly and courageous
leaders for the good of our nation. And please use your vote
wisely.
A Christian
country
David Cameron
says that he is proud of the fact that we are a Christian country and that 'we
shouldn’t be ashamed to say so.'
But 1 in 3 voters says that he
has undermined Christianity in Britain - and sadly, the evidence above supports
that conclusion. |
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