BRITAIN: Sex Counselor Loses Appeal Over Firing For Refusing To Treat Gays

A British high court has resoundingly rejected the appeal of a sex counselor who argued that his firing for refusing to treat gay patients amounted to religious discrimination.

Christianity deserves no protection in law above other faiths and to do so would be “irrational” , “divisive, capricious and arbitrary”, a senior judge said today, as he rejected a marriage guidance counsellor’s attempt to challenge his sacking for refusing to give sex therapy to gay couples. In the latest clash between the judiciary and Christian believers, Lord Justice Laws said that laws could not be used to protect one religion above another. He also delivered a robust dismissal to the former Archbishop of Canterbury who had warned that a series of recent court rulings against Christians could lead to “civil unrest.” To give one religion legal protection over any other, “however long its tradition, however rich its culture, is deeply unprincipled”, the judge said. It would give legal force to a “subjective opinion” and would lead to a “theocracy”, which is of necessity autocratic.”

By rejecting the appeal, the court may have set the precedent that "legislation for the protection of views held purely on religious grounds could not be justified." Ah, if only that were true on this side of the Atlantic.