Let me introduce you to Owen and Eunice Johns. They live in the UK and have taken care of 15 foster children since 1992. Social workers have praised them as “kind and hospitable people” who “respond sensitively” to the children who have made a home with them.
When they applied again to have another foster child, they ran into a snag. You see, the Johns are devoted Christians who happen to believe that homosexuality is “against God’s law and morals.” For that reason, they were rejected as caregivers, despite their outstanding history in offering a loving home to children without parents.
They took their case to court, but the Equality and Human Rights Commission argued against them, saying that any children that might live in their home risk being “infected” by Christian moral views.
If only such an infection would spread.
The court decided against the Johns:
It was ruled that there was no discrimination against them as Christians but that their views on sexual morality may be “inimical”—or harmful—to children. In that situation, they ruled: “The equality provisions [of the 2007 Equality Act] concerning sexual orientation should take precedence.”
This is another glimpse at how our culture is changing. The most chilling aspect of this change is that Christian morality is now being called an infection and harmful to children. This is only a step away from declaring that orthodox Biblical morality needs to be excised from society.
The only saving grace for the moment for those of us in the United States is that this took place in the UK rather than here. The UK, as with all of Europe, discarded its Christian identity long ago; in America, we still have a vibrant thread of Christian faith leavening the society—the corruption isn’t as advanced.
This case, though, should serve as a warning: Christians need to act to ensure they can still speak Biblical truth without penalty. On the issues of homosexuality, that liberty is slipping away. Can the slippage be halted? I will continue to have hope until there is none, but we haven’t gotten to that point yet. We need to work diligently to maintain our freedom of religion.
That’s supposed to be guaranteed by the Constitution, by the way. Some reminders to those in government will always be necessary.