The Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Bill 2020 is currently approaching the committee stage in the NSW Parliament. The Bill seeks to add discrimination on the grounds of religious belief to those categories already covered (e.g. sexual orientation, gender, race etc.).
Today is the closing deadline to submit comments and I would encourage everyone to do so. The Joint Committee are also inviting detailed submissions from those who may have “specialist knowledge, expertise or experience in the field”. Here’s what I sent in.
This post was originally removed as the Joint Committee asked that submissions not be published until they were published on the Committee’s own webpage. My submission has now been published there.
A well-written submission. Thank you David. One typo – assume you meant “disagree with us” towards the end. PN
“… the effect of legislating for protection from religious discrimination not only establishes basic rights but also sends a broader signal about the valued place of various religious beliefs in our wonderfully diverse New South Wales”.
David, when I read your submission, two matters came to mind (apart from your sounding like a presenter on SBS television):
(i) the secularisation of the Church as remarked, for example, by sociologist, Steve Bruce [2011] p. 39 :
“Churches, because they can claim to represent important social values and because they can mobilize large parts of their membership, can still be political actors, but such action requires that they accept secular rules of engagement”; and
(ii) the readiness of professing Christians to compartmentalise the good news given to them by Jesus, effectively, that we are a people blessed by God when we are denied our rights by the world. Mathew 5:11-12.
I was Denied a University degree because i refused to have Sex with a Anglican Chaplin at a university
Clyde, I grieve with you. In church circles and the wider entertainment industry, the denial of advancement can be discriminatory. In some cases, it may be difficult to obtain evidence. That is why your own voice is important. I don’t know what the situation may be in Australia (perhaps David can help if he is willing), but evangelical church leaders in the UK are certainly unwilling to speak openly as to the judgment of God in respect of the activities and influence of known fornicators in their midst. I refer, in particular, to the case of Jonathan Fletcher.
http://survivingchurch.org/2020/08/17/time-for-disclosure-instead-of-silence-jonathan-fletcher/