A time of anti-Christian persecution is at hand and the Equality Bill could make matters far worse, says the Church of England Newspaper.
The newspaper, one of the oldest in the world dating back to 1828, is concerned about the growing punishment of Christians who publicly criticise homosexual conduct.
“The government had better start building more prison space — for Christians and moral conservatives generally,” says an editorial in the latest edition.
“We are now used to hearing of such folk being sacked and losing their appeals for daring to air any view which criticises or disapproves of gay sex.”
But the paper is worried that the new Equality Bill and a Government bid to delete a free speech protection from a ‘homophobic hatred’ law will lead to more intolerance against Christian views.
“The extraordinary success of the gay rights campaign in securing a special place for practitioners of gay sex in the legal framework is now moving ahead to suppress any who dissent from their agenda.
“It seems that the clause inserted into the recent Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill by Lord Waddington, guaranteeing freedom of speech to religious people who disagree with gay sex, has been overturned by a whipped vote in the Commons.”
The paper adds: “So Christians, and of course Muslims and others who just disagree with the Stonewall line, are being told to shut up and get into their closet — the gays are not tolerant of dissent and have got the state to crack-down.”
The editorial concludes, “A time of persecution is at hand.”
The Equality Bill places a duty on public bodies, like schools and the police, to promote ‘gay rights’.
The Bill also gives Parliament the opportunity to strip away religious liberty protections from various discrimination laws.
The Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons yesterday.