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UK Demonstration Against Sexual Orientation Legislation, and an Angry Response from an MPs Office

Organizers disappointed with poor Catholic showing at demonstration

By Hilary White
 
LONDON, March 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SOR’s) were being debated and voted on in the House of Lords on Wednesday evening, hundreds protested and prayed outside for religious freedom in Britain.
 
Fr. Timothy Finigan, a parish priest in Blackfen and founder of the Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life, attended the rally and said that the atmosphere was positive and prayerful, but he was disappointed that few Catholics were represented at the Evangelical-organized event. One observer estimated the crowd at about two thousand.
 
The demonstration was organised by the Lawyers Christian Fellowship and Christian Concern for our Nation.
 
The rally was smaller than previous demonstrations. Fr. Finigan told LifeSiteNews.com, “The only Catholics attending were representatives from the Latin Mass society, the National Association of Catholic Families and the Faith Movement. The Catholic media office has not picked up on the issue and there was no one at the rally from the Catholic media.”
 
The poor Catholic showing, he said, was likely a result of the determination by the English Catholic hierarchy to negotiate with the government. “The Catholic bishops,” he said, “thought they were dealing with reasonable chaps, that a sensible accommodation could be worked out. They didn’t know what they were dealing with.”
 
The assumption that there would be an accommodation has left the UK’s Catholic leadership without any contingency plan. “Our ecclesiastical authorities thought they could negotiate a deal. So there is no plan-B,” Fr. Finigan said.
 
With most of Britain’s media editorially in favour of the Regulations, Christian opponents have recourse to largely internet-based media with private weblogs, the video posting site, YouTube, online petitions and email lists. A government website set up to create online petitions includes one that asks the Prime Minister for an exemption to the Regulations for faith-based adoption agencies.
 
Christians are openly worrying, however, that the passage of the Regulations will mean a new wave of anti-Christian political activity and legislation. In today’s Daily Mail, the ‘Spy’ column ran the response to a constituent who wrote to Alan Simpson, Labour MP for Nottingham South asking him to oppose the SOR legislation.
 
“You disgust me,” was the reply from the MP’s aide, Paul May. “You are so totally and utterly out of touch with the real world that it is no surprise to me that the Christian faith is fizzling out to nothing in the United Kingdom.”
 
“Perhaps when we have managed to turn all our children gay the problem of religious bigotry affecting our laws will no longer be an issue.” May later apologized and said he was not speaking for Mr. Simpson.
 
Fr. Finigan, whose weblog, the Hermeneutic of Continuity has been a major resource for Christians and other concerned citizens on the SOR’s, said “In a way this may be good for us.”
 
“Sooner or later the bishops will have to realize that you can’t negotiate with the government.”
 
Readers living in the UK may sign an online petition to request an exemption from the Regulations for Catholic and all faith-based adoption agencies. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Adoptionprotest/  

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