Man's 'Equality' Vs God's Equality

Equality for some, but not for all.

The full impact of the Government's 'Equality Act' is being felt far and wide. The main focus of the legislation and the motives behind the legislation appears to be against discrimination of those with disabilities, different races, religions, people of various sexual orientations and the like.

But already there are problems. Several Catholic adoption agencies are breaking their links with the Church in order not to discriminate against homosexual partnerships. New cases emerge every few weeks highlighting cases where people's religious views are being discarded in preference of the discrimination felt by people with another social background.

Though not related directly to the legislation, a Christian man working for a homeless charity was recently suspended for telling a co-worker that he personally disagreed with 'gay marriage'. The driving force of the legislation of equality is that there are things you really cannot say, do, or perhaps even think.

These are interesting times, and potentially very difficult times for the Church. There is a possibility that legislation from Westminster could emasculate and even near silence the Church in the future, in the liberal, secular desire to see a man-made equality-based society engineered and strengthened. The battle lines are beginning to be drawn, which is why it is good that the new Archbishop of Westminster has set out his stall very well.

However, the reason why this secular, legislated Equality Act will fall far short of safeguarding 'equality' of any kind, is that it is really aimed only at sub-groups in society and has little respect for our real humanity - our common humanity and our human dignity. Further, in its drive to ensure the rights of some, many are left out.

Here is a small list of people the scope of 'equalities' legislation conveniently misses out completely.

• The unborn child.
  
• The homeless, very poor and destitute.
• Those with mental illnesses.

It is interesting, isn't it that 'equality' legislation is really only aimed at certain people, certain sub-sections of society and not everybody? The reason for this is perhaps because, just as in other periods in history when tyrannical dictatorships or ideologies held sway, certain groups of people are always regarded as dispensible and not included in legislation because they are viewed either as a problem or unproductive.

So, let's just take an example where the rights of another group of individuals are not heeded under the 'equalities' legislation...

A homeless man with a can of cider walks into a Starbucks. He smells a bit but he's managed to get a couple of pounds for a coffee. Everybody else in Starbucks is clean, wears nice clothes and is more attractive and easy on the eye. He's got a few mental health problems and is muttering stuff to himself, but he isn't causing a scene. The manager notices the homeless guy and walks over and says,

"Excuse me, please could you leave quickly."
The homeless guy says, "But I just bought a coffee here. Don't I have as much right to stay here as anyone else?"
"I'm sorry mate, it's just you are upsetting some of the customers, I'm trying to run a business here," says the manager.
"Well, alright, if you insist," says the homeless guy, who walks out, red-faced and humiliated.

Now, if you think that this situation does not occur in cities around the UK at some point very regularly then you are very naive. People who are not 'productive' or socially accepted are always left out of Government legislation because they are seen as a problem. It was once the case that homosexuals were seen as worthy of being outcasts in society. Secular society applauds itself for having made homosexuality perfectly acceptable or even morally good. I can tell you now, I have a friend who I can't take anywhere, sometimes because he kicks up and pisses off the management, but sometimes because of the way he looks and his mannerisms. More often than not either the manager or the door man takes a look at him and says, "I don't want his type in here."

The Government will always get equality wrong precisely because it has abandoned any sane concept or notion of what it is or rather Who it is that gives us our equality and dignity in the first place. That notion is a concept of God. It is God who gave us dignity, fashioning us in our mother's wombs and giving us human dignity, raising us and crowning us a little lower than the Angels. Sadly, because the Government have abandoned our Christian identity, there will be no equality at all. If you can think of anyone else not included in the 'Equality Act' please post a comment.