Over 1,000 Christian ministers and pastoral workers have signed an open letter to Government Equalities Minister Liz Truss, urging the government to drop its current proposal to ban ‘conversion therapy’, with the warning that it could criminalise normal church activities.
Tim Dieppe, Head of Public Policy at Christian Concern, spoke to James Whale on Talk Radio about why so many church leaders have come together to oppose a ban: “we think this is a clear breach of human rights, in terms of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The letter in particular is concerned about freedom of religion in that respect, that pastoral conversations, prayer and youth work with children and young people could be subject to criminal sanctions. And we think that is completely unreasonable.”
James, a self-proclaimed atheist, also quizzed Tim about other themes to do with faith, including banning the teaching of religion in schools, whether or not God exists, and whether or not it’s harmful for someone to force themselves not to do something they might be tempted to do.
James also asked about freedom of religion, suggesting that he is happy for people to believe what they like – so long as they don’t express their differences of opinion around him.
8 December 2021
Talk Radio