Dear Sir,
Andrew Hambler (en March 2019 p.19) argues that Barnabas Fund’s petition for a new law to guarantee religious liberty was unnecessary. In his view, freedom of religion in the UK is already fully protected by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Equality Act.
Article 9 of the ECHR is based on Article 18 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948): ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.’
This is very far from being a comprehensive description of religious freedom. Its wording was a compromise, formulated by a committee including representatives from the USSR, China and Muslim-majority states. The word ‘manifest’ was vague enough to be interpreted in different ways in different cultures and countries. The ECHR replicates this wording.
At Barnabas Fund we have highlighted seven aspects of freedom of religion, which developed gradually in the UK: 1. Freedom of worship; 2. Freedom to choose/change your faith; 3. Freedom to read Scripture in public; 4. Freedom to interpret Scripture without government interference; 5. Freedom to preach and seek to convince others; 6. Freedom to establish places of worship; 7. Freedom from being required to affirm a particular set of beliefs in order to hold certain jobs (unless necessary for the job), study at university, or stand for election.
Only the first two of these seven are explicitly included in Article 9, and the last is guaranteed by the Equality Act.
Mr Hambler himself recognises this. He argues that the other rights are ‘suggested’ by Article 9 but that courts have ‘repeatedly got it wrong’ in the many recent cases where legal rulings have been made against Christians in religious liberty cases. Wouldn’t it make more sense to admit that the existing laws are inadequate?
Many of the existing freedoms were achieved by repealing restrictive legislation. There is no law positively guaranteeing these freedoms. That is what Barnabas Fund’s petition called for.
Mr Hambler’s greatest anxiety seems to be that followers of non-Christian religions might also benefit from such a law. At Barnabas Fund, we say: ‘So they should, and atheists too.’
I myself am a convert from Islam and have worked for many years for full religious liberty for Christians in Islamic and other restrictive countries. How can we seek to deny the same liberties to non-Christians in the UK? Freedom for one must be freedom for all.
Yours faithfully,
