New employment laws threaten religious liberty This could affect your church or any Christian organisation of which you are a part. At present, there are no laws in the UK which prevent churches and Christian organisations from employing only Christians. The Race, Employment and Equal Treatment (European) Directives, which are due to be implemented in UK legislation by December 2003, are designed to outlaw unfair discrimination on six grounds: sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion and age, in the fields of employment and training. Whilst, as Christians, we welcome the outlawing of discrimination of any type, the draft Regulations as they currently stand will mean that churches and Christian organisations (indeed any faith-based group) could be accused of direct religious discrimination if they insist on recruiting only Christians. Other scenarios, such as the dismissal of an employee who after being recruited converts to another faith, could similarly land Christian organisations in court. The draft Regulations do not contain the full range of protections and safeguards permitted in the European Directive. The UK Government is currently conducting a consultation period, whereby comments on the draft Regulations can be received by the Department of Trade & Industry up until 24th January 2003. We would urge you to find out more about the draft Regulations by visiting our friends in the Faithworks Movement or the Christian Institute. They both provide guidance on how to express your views to Government. Faithworks is running a 'Keep the Faith Campaign' - you can sign the petition that will be presented to Government. The Christian Institute has produced a free leaflet 'Squeezing churches into a secular mould', and will be suggesting additional ways of campaigning on the issue after the 24 January. For both resources, consult their websites at the following addresses: http://www.faithworks.info/Standard.asp?ID=253 http://www.christian.org.uk/directive2003/index.htm It is vital that the right of churches and Christian organisations to retain their core ethos and values be protected. We invite you to take action now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If this message has been passed to you by a friend you can SUBSCRIBE to future editions on our home page at http://www.stewardshipservices.org ******************************************************************** Stewardship Services (full name: The United Kingdom Evangelization Trust) is a registered charity no. 234714 and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England, no. 90305 Registered office: Oakwood House, Oakwood Hill Industrial Estate, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3TZ. http://www.stewardshipservices.org ********************************************************************
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