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TURN the TIDE Reclaiming Religious Freedom in the UK

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TURN the TIDE Reclaiming Religious Freedom in the UK Our Religious Freedom TURN THE TIDE Reclaiming Religious Freedom in the UK TURN THE TIDE Reclaiming Religious Freedom in the UK Turn the Tide: Reclaiming Religious Freedom in the UK Second UK edition, February 2018 Published in the United States by Isaac Publishing 6729 Curran Street, McLean, Virginia 22101 Copyright © 2018 Barnabas Fund All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by means electronic, photocopy or recording without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in quotations in written reviews. ISBN: 978-0-9977033-5-1 Printed in the United Kingdom Contents Introduction ................................................................................... 1 Why this booklet has been written Chapter 1 ........................................................................................ 2 From freedom to chains – and back again? Recommendations for action by Church and Parliament to restore religious liberty Chapter 2 ........................................................................................ 7 The rise of Christianophobia: how freedom of religion is being undermined Seven case studies of Christianophobia in the UK Chapter 3 .........................................................................................28 Why has this happened? Chapter 4 ........................................................................................ 38 How freedom of religion developed in the UK and spread around the world Seven foundational freedoms of religion Sources ............................................................................................ 43 Acknowledgements .................................................................. 48 “The Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country.” Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Lambeth Palace, February 2012 1 INTRODUCTION Why this booklet has been written This booklet has been written to In times of great sin and impending explain the reason why Barnabas Fund judgement, through the prayers of is seeking a new Act of Parliament in His people and the work of His saints the UK to guarantee seven fundamental like Wesley, Whitefield and others, aspects of freedom of religion. These judgement was averted. God in His seven freedoms have developed in the mercy intervened. UK by various mechanisms over the last five centuries but are now under We believe that, as a nation, the UK threat. See page 39-43 for more has again left the pathways of God. details. A law to protect and guarantee We have forsaken His laws, and we them is urgently needed. are faced with the possibility of the lampstand being removed from our Barnabas Fund is running a petition country (Revelation 2:5). With this on this. Please go to will probably come the loss of our www.OurReligiousFreedom.org or call fundamental religious freedoms. Yet 024 7623 1923 (+44 24 7623 1923 we believe it is not too late. We believe from overseas) for more details. that we are still, as a nation, in the hands of our sovereign Lord, that it Tracing the heritage of religious is He who will determine our destiny. liberty takes us back more than 800 Meanwhile we, as His people, must, years to Magna Carta. At that time, like Nehemiah of old, pray, build and be England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland equipped and ready to respond to every were separate nations; it was long kind of attack (Nehemiah 4). Finally, we before Great Britain was created, must heed the words of 2 Chronicles let alone the United Kingdom. So 7:14 “If my people, who are called by Magna Carta’s ringing call that “the my name, will humble themselves and English Church” must be free should pray and seek my face and turn from not be seen as limited to England. We their wicked ways, then I will hear from must see it as an affirmation to be heaven, and I will forgive their sin and embraced by the whole of the UK, but will heal their land.” (NIV) expressed in the language of its time and context. “The Church is always most effective We believe that God’s hand has been when it cries from the wilderness.” over this nation. He has guided, blessed, John Stott provided and protected over centuries. 2 CHAPTER 1 From freedom to chains – and back again? “The English Church shall be free, and secular humanism on Christians and shall have its rights undiminished, and churches. Anti-Christian prejudice, its liberties unimpaired” sometimes called “Christianophobia,” From Clause 1 of Magna Carta, 1215 is raising its ugly head. Over the last two decades, Parliament has begun to enact laws restricting religious Once we were free; today we are in freedom. Pre-existing laws have been chains. On 6 December 2017, Lord misused by the police and Crown Pearson asked the government Prosecution Service (CPS), even a critical question in the House claiming that to quote from the King of Lords: James Bible in public is a criminal matter. (See page 9.) My Lords, will the Government therefore confirm unequivocally that a Christian who says that Jesus is the only Son of the one “Eternal vigilance is the price of true God cannot be arrested for liberty” hate crime or any other offence, however much it may offend Wendell Philipps (1811-1884) a Muslim or anyone of any American activist who worked other religion? for the abolition of slavery The government whip refused to comment. Such an equivocal response would have been The new “Test Act” unthinkable in an earlier generation. Most disturbingly, in 2018, the 100th The UK led the world in developing anniversary of the year when for freedom of religion, and in spreading the first time almost all UK citizens the idea of religious freedom across were allowed to vote and stand for the globe. Today, that heritage is Parliament, there are moves towards being turned upside down. This what is, in effect, the reintroduction is primarily due to attempts to of a “Test Act” to exclude committed impose an increasingly intolerant Christians from holding certain 3 public offices unless they deny Why has this happened? aspects of their faith. In the run-up to the June 2017 general election, One reason is that we have forgotten some sections of the media were our heritage. Britain was the first apparently attempting to “out” country in the world to develop certain parliamentary candidates human rights like freedom of religion, as “unfit” to hold public office freedom of speech and freedom of because they held to Biblical beliefs the press. The very first clause of like miracles, traditional marriage, Magna Carta includes the statement: family values and the sanctity of “The English Church shall be free,” life. The media also challenged and ends: “This freedom we shall senior Christian politicians with observe ourselves, and desire to be overtly “theological” questions, observed in good faith by our heirs seemingly with the intention of in perpetuity.” From the 16th century discrediting them. Candidates from onwards, Britain led the world in other religions did not appear to be developing and establishing these subjected to similar questioning. freedoms and then spreading them to other countries around the globe. Lamentably, a great many of our Anti-Christian violence MPs and journalists have little or no knowledge of this great heritage Christians in public life are of religious freedom. Sadly, this is increasingly facing threats and even also true of many Christians. In this violence because of their beliefs. booklet, we aim to correct that. We Some of the violence is committed seek to remind the great and good, by individuals from minority groups the ordinary person in pew and street which are themselves subject to and most importantly our children hate crime. The government appears – the next generation – of what has reluctant to tackle, or even to gone before. Some of our ancestors acknowledge, this Christianophobia. died to achieve these freedoms. Alarmingly, the timing of some Others were imprisoned, or were violent incidents suggests that the exiled or had to flee the country. violence may be marching in step Some were denied an education, with advocacy actions promoting not allowed to hold jobs in the public the ideological agenda of particular sector or stand for Parliament. Why? groups by governmental bodies.1 Simply because of their faith. William Tyndale gave his life so that the Bible could be freely read in England. John Bunyan spent twelve years in a Bedford prison for the right to preach and worship freely. 4 “Liberty … is the delicate fruit of a or even shamed by the media and mature civilization; and scarcely a declared unfit to stand for election century has passed since nations, that or hold public office because of their knew the meaning of the term, resolved Christian beliefs. to be free. In every age its progress has been beset by its natural enemies.” Lord Acton (1834-1902) Freedom of religion English historian and MP under attack They won those freedoms by Freedom of religion in the UK is under determination, commitment and assault. This attack comes from an refusal to compromise. At the time, increasingly aggressive secularism many considered them bigots, that prioritizes the rights of some fanatics or worse. But they won groups over others. It comes from freedom for all of us, Christian and Islamism* that grabs the advantages non-Christian alike. offered it by political correctness while gradually seeking to align UK The tragedy is that today the law with sharia. sacrifices of our ancestors have been forgotten, and the liberties which It is time for a new generation to rise they struggled so hard to gain are up and reclaim this great heritage of being gradually whittled away. The religious freedom – one of the UK’s tide of history is turning. Christians greatest gifts to the world – before it are once again being excluded from is lost forever. public posts, thrown out of university * It is important to distinguish between Islam, Islamism, Muslims and Islamists. Islam is a set of religious beliefs and Muslims are the people who follow this religion.
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