I insist you tolerate my intolerance

Are you being sued for doing something you believe is right?

One of the basic rules of deciding whether it’s worth taking the case to court instead of settling out of court with apologies: is the Christian Institute offering to pay your legal fees? If so, then you know two things in advance: you will lose, and you will become a kind of public figurehead for whatever campaign the Christian Institute are running. Unwinnable cases are a form of advertising.

One of the basic rules of running an inn, a hotel, a guesthouse, or even a B&B, is that if the lodgings are available, the host can’t turn people away based on their own prejudices. That’s tolerance: active, practical, and kind.

Nick Griffin’s account has been UNsuspended by Twitter

So while an ordinary pleb goes to jail for bigoted abuse, a Member of the European Parliament does not? (Updated, 19th October)

Griffin’s Twitter feed is unsuspended, and as one might expect, he’s celebrating with a tirade of homophobic abuse.

Apparently if you’re an elected representative – MP Andrew Mitchell, MEP Nick Griffin – the rules aren’t the same for you as they are for plebs like us.

“We’ve been told that Nick Griffin is threatening to come to our house and hand out leaflets outside,” Mr Black added.

“But, we live in a village where it wouldn’t be easy for him or many people to come and gather. There’s nowhere to park for a start and very few people walk past apart from school children. If anything happens it would be a damp squib.”

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Posted 18th October

The very Christian Family Research Council says:

That abandonment of principle is leading to a decline in membership, especially among the more liberal denominations. As more churches move away from biblical authority, their attendance suffers. Just ask the Episcopal Church, whose pews are virtually empty after the decision to endorse homosexuality. It’s time to push back on the spin that’s feeding our weak brethren who say that compromising truth in pursuit of love is the way to reach the lost. Intuitively, people want to anchor their lives to something meaningful — something that demands the sacrifice and discipline of “taking up your cross.” When a denomination abandons the truth and waters everything down to love, it reduces the church to another hour of Dr. Phil — which is something Americans can get without ever leaving home.

In March 2010 Susanne Wilkinson, acting out (she assures us) her Christian values, decided that a respectable couple holidaying in the UK (Michael Black is 64, and John Morgan is 59) could not have a double room in the Swiss Bed and Breakfast in Cookham, Berkshire – though they had made a reservation and paid a deposit – because they are a gay couple, and Wilkinson is of the opinion that Jesus doesn’t like that sort of thing and doesn’t approve of showing hospitality to those sort of people.

Lord Carey is lying

Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, is bearing witness to the European Court of Human Rights that the UK is “a country where Christians can be sacked for manifesting their faith, are vilified by state bodies, are in fear of reprisal or even arrest for expressing their views on sexual ethics, something is very wrong. It affects the moral and ethical compass of the United Kingdom. Christians are excluded from many sectors of employment simply because of their beliefs; beliefs which are not contrary to the public good.”

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Exodus 20.16

Lord Carey is not talking about Christians at prayer being dragged from the steps of St Pauls by riot police a few weeks ago. That aspect of the moral and ethical compass of the UK is apparently of less than no concern to him.

He’s talking about a nurse who wanted to wear chain jewellery, which is not allowed whether or not a cross hangs from the chain; a flight attendant who wanted to wear chain jewellery outside her uniform, which was not allowed whether or not a cross hangs from her chain; about a man who lied to his employer in order to get special training; and about a woman who wished to be allowed to refuse to do her job because she didn’t like gay people.

Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Exodus 23.1