Criminalising prayer protects no one
Laws against so-called conversion therapy are threatening the freedom of belief
Laws against so-called conversion therapy are threatening the freedom of belief
John Newton’s world-famous hymn, Amazing Grace, was first publicly read aloud 250 years ago on New Year’s Day.
2022 saw an end to the lockdowns that had plagued the previous two years, and Britain has largely returned to business as usual.
The Scottish government’s proposed new law suggests that teaching the importance of marriage is akin to conversion therapy. It breaches multiple human rights and is simply not necessary, says Simon Calvert
It shouldn’t need saying. Banning prayers and pastoral care is repressive and wrong. It is an obvious breach of human rights. Yet the Scottish Government is being urged to do exactly this in the guise of a ban on “conversion therapy”.
I’m a pastor. My concern is with the church — what she believes, what she celebrates, and what she proclaims. Achieving some legal and political end is not my primary calling and yet, I’m concerned that many younger Christians — ironically, often those most attuned to societal transformation and social justice — do not see the connection between a traditional view of marriage and human flourishing.