{"id":8409,"date":"2015-03-10T14:25:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T14:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/?p=8409"},"modified":"2015-03-10T14:25:24","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T14:25:24","slug":"scottish-registrars-given-conscience-clause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/scottish-registrars-given-conscience-clause\/","title":{"rendered":"Scottish registrars given ‘conscience clause’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Scottish Parliament chamber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Scottish Government has given registrars a conscience clause not to take part in ‘gay marriage’ ceremonies.<\/p>\n

The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 provides that local authorities must provide a registrar to conduct a same-sex ‘marriage’ but does not say that every individual registrar is obliged to participate.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government told the homosexual website\u00a0PinkNews.co.uk<\/a><\/strong>: \u201cEach local authority must provide an authorised registrar to conduct a marriage or civil partnership in the area chosen by the couple, regardless of that couple\u2019s sexual orientation. It is a matter for local authorities to manage the provision of that service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no opt-out for individual registrars included in the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we have been clear that we expect local authorities to handle with sensitivity any registrar who objects to carrying out a same sex marriage on the basis of their religion or belief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, if the expression does not fall too awkwardly, the pro-gay\u00a0National Secular Society is upset. \u00a0It’s homosexual president, Terry Sanderson, complained: \u201cThe Scottish Government is putting local authorities in an invidious position of having to decide individually whether it is OK for religious registrars to discriminate against gay couples.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere should be a clear policy to guide them and that policy should be that gay couples are entitled to equal treatment from all registrars.”<\/p>\n

But Sanderson goes on to argue that the conscience of\u00a0Christian registrars is increasingly being supported by the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n

\"Lilian<\/a>
Lilian Ladele<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Referring to the case of Lilian Ladele, who was sacked by the London Borough of Islington after she voiced concerns about participating in civil partnerships, he declared: \u201cThe court said that any policy aimed at restricting religious opt outs should have been agreed before any case is brought.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal authorities will have to make a very strong case for not allowing religious registrars to refuse to even administer same-sex marriages, let alone carry out ceremonies. If Lillian Ladele brought her case today, she would probably win.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, a\u00a0Christian registrar who was previously dismissed by Central Bedfordshire Council after refusing to conduct same-sex weddings was reinstated last year.<\/p>\n

Margaret Jones, a senior deputy registrar at Bedford register office, was sacked by her employers after confirming that she would be unwilling to conduct same-sex weddings on the basis of her Christian beliefs.<\/p>\n

\"Margaret<\/a>
Margaret Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, Ms Jones was offered her job back<\/a><\/strong> after an internal appeal hearing in August last year (2014) found her employer had not taken a \u201cbalanced view\u201d of her beliefs.<\/p>\n

The tribunal overturned the decision by Central Bedfordshire Council, noting Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance \u201c[encourages] employers and employees to find reasonable solutions to religion or belief issues at work\u201d.<\/p>\n

That outcome also had the National Secular Society convulsed by impotent fury<\/a><\/strong>, writing to the\u00a0Council asking it to ‘clarify’ its position regarding employees\u2019 requests to opt out of part of their job requirements.<\/p>\n

Margaret Jones declined the job reinstatement offer, but Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, raged:\u00a0\u201cDiscriminatory acts have a moral significance beyond the deprivation of the relevant service and the fact that other registrars could conduct the ceremonies is irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n

This may be no more than a faint glimmer of good news, but welcome as the homosexual juggernaut rumbles on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Scottish Government has given registrars a conscience clause not to take part in ‘gay marriage’ ceremonies. The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 provides that local authorities must provide a registrar to conduct a same-sex ‘marriage’ but does not say that every individual registrar is obliged to participate. A spokesperson for the Scottish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144,11,86],"tags":[234,15,333,1449,357,1450,1451],"class_list":["post-8409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-freedom-of-speech","category-homosexuality-trans","category-secularism","tag-gay-marriage","tag-christian-voice","tag-lilian-ladele","tag-margaret-jones","tag-national-secular-society","tag-registrar","tag-scottish-government"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t