Religious rights: Are they compatible with equality? (Yes.)

The recent rulings of the European Court of Human Rights on religious freedom amply demonstrate what a sensible body it is, as several commentators have pointed out. Unfortunately, the reactions of some people demonstrate that the same degree of sense is not universally shared by the population of the UK as a whole, and (quel surprise!) by the religious, right-wingers and anti-Europeans in particular.

"Cross? I was livid!"

Photo: Sean McGrath/Flickr

The trickiest decisions faced by the court were held to be those concerning a marriage counsellor and registrar who object to same-sex couples, with a comment piece in (where else?) the Daily Mail lamenting: “[H]ow depressingly predictable that the court found the rights of a sexual minority trumped those of Christians.”

But the truth is it shouldn’t be a tricky decision and there’s no question of equality laws ‘trumping’ the right to practise a religion. They can both be absolute, if you like, and the laws of the EU and the UK make this quite clear.

In the UK, there’s nothing in equality legislation that prevents a person following any religion at all. Other laws, those concerning murder, marriage, sex and drugs, for example, are much more likely to get in the way, depending on what bizarre rituals your chosen belief-system insists on. All of the Christians involved in this case continue to be free to practise their religion, so what’s the problem?

Their claims invoked articles nine and 14 of the marvellous European Convention on Human Rights, which protect us from persecution by the state on the grounds of our beliefs, and prevents employers from treating members of one religion differently from those of any other religion, or indeed no religion.

European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg

Photo: CherryX/Wikipedia

What the law can’t do, however, is make it possible for people with religious views to be able to take any job. Consider a devout Muslim woman, for example, who is determined to be a stripper. If she says her right to freedom of conscience is infringed by the requirement to take off her clothes in front of strange men, do we take this seriously? Of course not! If she says this employer is discriminating against people with certain religious views by making them effectively unemployable in this position, is that really the case? No – her freedom of conscience is intact. (The same could be said, by the way, of a feminist, and while we can’t find fault with this business-model on the basis of article nine of the ECHR, we can and should condemn the inherent objectification of women. But I digress…)

You see, that’s not how freedom of conscience works. In life, you have options (for example: job options), and you choose according to your own conscience. Sometimes it’s a hard choice – the law can’t always help with that - but freedom of conscience at least means you are not forced to take a job which goes against your beliefs. Are animal rights fanatics discriminated against because they feel unable to work in an abattoir? No, they choose not to work there because it is incompatible with their beliefs. Is my freedom of conscience curtailed because banks invest in arms companies? No. I can follow my conscience and not work for one of those banks. I can even move all my money to a more ethical alternative (and so should you.)

Now we come to equality. It really shouldn’t be so difficult to explain this!

We as a society have decided - quite rightly - that people should not face discrimination because of their gender or sexual orientation. This means that gays and lesbians can have civil partnerships, will soon be able to get married, and should also, naturally enough, have access to services such as marriage counselling. Local authorities and counselling services are therefore commendably putting in place policies to turn equality on paper into a reality.

Now, if some people disagree with this, if they think that actually homosexuals are not as deserving as heterosexuals, and if therefore, on the grounds of deeply held - but sadly mistaken - beliefs, they find they can’t provide those services, they are absolutely free to follow their consciences out of the door and find jobs and employers more in tune with their religion. Problem solved.