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| COULD churches be discriminated against in their provision of baptism, marriage and the Lord's Supper? The answer is, "Yes," for the Standing Committee of the Sydney Anglican Church, an evangelical diocese, in a motion recently brought to the Synod of the church in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.
The Australian State of NSW, of which Sydney is the capital, was considered an Australian pioneer in 1977 when it introduced its Anti-Discrimination Act (ADA) in the State parliament. NSW was the second Australian State to enact such legislation. The NSW Act dealt with major areas of discrimination that seemed to reflect "community attitudes towards racism, sexism, homophobia and prejudice towards those with disabilities and other social problems" [from the Executive Summary of the Review of the ADA 1977 (NSW)]. But times have changed. According to the Law Reform Commission (LRC), which is reviewing this Act and making recommendations to the NSW government, between 1977 and 2000 much has happened "in the area of social welfare legislation and in discrimination law." In fact, the reason for the need to consider change is driven, it says, by "changes in community attitudes" over the last 20 years. To put it another way, the LRC says "that the ADA needed to be reviewed in the context of modern Australian society." Since 1977, the Australian Federal Government and all Australian states and territories have legislated against discrimination. However, the 1977 legislation was not considered comprehensive enough in tackling discrimination in the NSW community. Through many years of consultation and research, the LRC has investigated the adequacy of the ADA. The two volume Report was released in 1999, recommending that a new Anti-Discrimination Bill be drafted and opened up for discussion. After examining the Report, Christians, churches and denominations became uneasy at the new content of discrimination. Here's the bite: "Religious belief, political opinion and carer responsibilities (in the area of employment only) should be included as new grounds of discrimination" (Executive Sum mary of the ADA Review, p2). The Christian disquiet increased when the Report recommended that the ADA "be repealed and others, such as those applied to exclude private educational authorities in the area of employment ... be limited" (Executive Summary of the ADA review, p2). What does this mean for Christian schools? These kinds of issues fuelled the debate among Sydney Anglicans. At their recent Synod, issues of freedom of religion emerged as the consequence of the LRC's recommendations. The Synod voted unanimously (538-0, with no abstentions) to support the Standing Committee's motion. Why the apprehension? In a news release from the Anglican Synod of the Diocese of Sydney 2000 (12 October, 2000), the Standing Committee's report expressed concern in the following areas: 1. "The church will no longer be able to discriminate about the provision of religious services such as baptism, marriage and holy communion, 2. "The church will not be able to discriminate about who uses our church premises, 3. "The exemption for the church in relation to the appointment of persons will be significantly narrowed, 4. "The exemptions for church schools will also be significantly narrowed, and 5. "An important exemption for `religious instruction' purposes will be removed." Rev Dr Peter Jensen, who moved the motion at Synod, said that there was widespread disquiet among the churches and other religions about the LRC's recommendations. Justice Peter Young supported Dr Jensen's concern: "Some rights are individual rights and some are group rights. Anti-discrimination laws usually support individual rights, but not group rights. We are mainly concerned with group rights, we are interested in freedom of religion. We have our rights of freedom of religion and freedom of association guaranteed by the UN Charter. We need to make government aware of our reasonable concern." While we speak of freedom of religion, many people actually mean freedom from religion, was the view expressed by Mark Payne, Sydney Diocesan Secretary. Sydney Anglicans are not alone in their discomfort with the recommendations. The NSW Council of Churches echoes these concerns. The Council represents Baptists, Congregation-alists, Churches of Christ, Presbyterians, the Salvation Army, Reformed Churches and Anglicans. Council President, Mr Ray Hoekzema, said, "It is a matter of grave concern that Christians may be forced by government to adhere to certain values they don't believe in. The recommendations if enacted, may force the churches to bow to the will of the state, rather than to the will of God" (news release of 13 October, 2000). Mr Hoekzema believed that the Law Reform recommendations, if supported in State Parliament could impact selection of employees within the church. He said, "They must be able to live their lives in keeping with their understanding of biblical teaching. For church leadership, that means choosing employees who are willing to work with them as fellow followers of Christ, and not against them." Christians in NSW are urged to write to and make appointments to see their local State MPs for the lower house and members of the Legislative Council (upper house) to express their dismay over these issues that may impinge on their Christian liberties. Christians are encouraged to become informed. For those with access to the Internet, I found the easiest entry to the Lawlink NSW Report 92 of 1999, was through www.lawlink. nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/r92toc. Other links on this website are to the Executive Summary (a short overview of the main points) of the Law Reform report. A Draft Anti-Discrimination Bill 1999 is provided on this website through Appendix A. The NSW Attorney General's information associated with the Law Reform report can be accessed through http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au. A copy of the Sydney Anglican submission to the Attorney General can be viewed at www.anglicanmediasydney.asn.au/law reform.htm. The NSW Council of Churches believes the changes to the ADA that are foreshadowed, "constitute a threat to the nature and practices of Christian churches throughout the State. They would remove the churches' exemption under the Act and affect decisions they would make about religious services, the people they could employ, and even what could be legitimately discussed during religious instruction". Why would I, a Queenslander, be concerned about this NSW move? This is a call to vigilance by believers. Could the NSW recommendations be an indicator of possibilities in other Australian states and territories? Churches must have the freedom to maintain their beliefs and have the openness to explain the implications of their views. The government must keep out of imposing its beliefs on the church. Spencer Gear, Bundaberg, Australia [ TOP ] Appeared in Issue CETF 6.2 December 2000 |
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