As the Government continues to develop its proposals to amend the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill to introduce an offence of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexuality, Christian lawyers have continued to express concerns.

|PIC1|This Bill, which will affect the law in England and Wales, is a threat to the freedom of Christians and others to openly express their views and beliefs about sexuality, the Lawyers Christian Fellowship (LCF) has said.

"We are...convinced that such a law is unnecessary, as homosexuals are already adequately protected from abuse by the criminal law, in the same way that we all benefit from such protection," Andrea Minichiello Williams, Public Policy Director of the LCF has said.

She explained that the next stage of proceedings is that the House of Commons has convened a Committee to discuss the Bill and decide what amendments should be put to Parliament.

"This Committee will be considering a whole raft of provisions, but one of the issues they will consider is whether to include this amendment," Minichiello Williams said.

The Committee will begin meeting on Tuesday 16 October, and are scheduled to hear evidence from Stonewall, the homosexual rights lobbyist group which has been advocating this change in the law.

So far no religious representatives have been announced as one of the groups being asked to give evidence to the Committee.

The LCF is urging Christians across the UK to contact members of the Committee before Tuesday to express their concerns about whether this amendment is needed, and the negative effect it would have on freedom of speech and freedom of religion in this country.

"Although Christians do not hate homosexuals but are commanded to love them, they are instructed in the bible to hate sin," the LCF is promoting. "The bible is also clear that God intended sex to be kept in a marriage relationship between one man and one woman. Many people may find such teaching offensive. They may even find it threatening. But it is an orthodox belief of the Christian Church, and the propagation of such teaching should not be criminalised."

The LCF added: "Many advocates of free speech would ascribe to the motto 'I disagree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it'."

For more information please visit: www.christianconcernforournation.co.uk
and www.lawcf.org