Here is how one press account begins the story: "A street preacher has been fined £1,000 by a Scottish court after answering a question about homosexuality. Shawn Holes, who is American, was kept in a police cell overnight and then charged with a breach of the peace. The accusation was that he had used 'homophobic remarks' that were 'aggravated by religious prejudice'. Concerns have been raised that this case shows religious freedom is under threat."

The report continues, "Shawn Holes was in Scotland with a group of American colleagues preaching on a wide variety of topics. 'I was talking generally about Christianity and sin', he said. He continued: 'I only talked about these other issues because I was specifically asked. 'There were homosexuals listening - around six or eight - who were kissing each other and cuddling, and asking "What do you think of this?"

"Mr Holes later commented: 'It felt like a set-up by gay campaigners'." It sure does sound like a set-up. The moral of the story is this: it is quickly becoming illegal to say anything whatsoever that might in the slightest way upset a homosexual. Of course writing this right now is going to offend the militants. So throw me in jail already.

This sort of madness is occurring all over the Western world. Right now here in Victoria new laws are being debated which will simply result in more of the same. Proposed changes would give sweeping new powers to the Equal Opportunity Commission. It would give them: -The power to enter a church or meeting for the sole purpose of assessing what is said. -The right to demand that a religious organisation hand over files. -The right to compel church folk to attend a hearing at the Commission without any complaint being made. -The power to initiate a complaint of discrimination.

This is how Salt Shakers writes up this ominous development:

The Victorian Labor government has put legislation into the Parliament, on 10 March 2010, that would severely restrict religious freedom and give more power to the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 25 March 2010.

It goes to the Legislative Council two weeks from that date (this will be from 13 April 2010). The legislation, the Equal Opportunity Bill 2010, removes many of the exemptions for churches in areas such as age, race etc. The right to discriminate on grounds such as marital status, sexuality and gender have been retained.

However, if passed, the new law will require that religious bodies and schools prove why it is "reasonably necessary" for them to discriminate in these areas in order to adhere to the doctrines of their faith. This will result in numerous complaints and cases at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

In the area of employment it is even worse. Religious bodies and schools will be required to prove that it is an "inherent requirement" of the job for the employee to be of that faith, to not be homosexual etc. This would apply to "maths teachers'" for instance, on the basis the government thinks a maths teacher in a Christian school doesn't need to be a Christian.

That's nonsense. One just has to compare the exemption granted to political parties. They don't have to employ anyone from a competing political party.

The second major objection to the Bill is the new sweeping powers it gives to the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission - they would have the power to launch their own investigations, even when a complaint hasn't been made. The Commission would also be given the power to investigate businesses and organisations - compelling them to hand over documents and to attend hearings.

This is what Free To Believe says about this dangerous bill:

Rob Hull's Equal Opportunity Bill (2010) will be debated in Victoria's parliament next week. Hypocritically, politicians will be able to require that their employees are members of their political party, but ministers of religion will not be able to require that their employees are members of their own faith. Under the new Victorian Equal Opportunity Act, political parties will be automatically exempt from the new Act, but churches won't.

It appears that current employment contracts of church-based organizations - which often specify that administrators, playgroup or kindergarten coordinators, finance offices or site managers must be of the organization's faith - may be illegal under the new law. The new Equal Opportunity Bill leaves these contracts open to be challenged in the courts.

Under current legislation, schools can assess who they employ to reflect the school's culture on a case by case basis, taking into account a person's moral values, religious beliefs and life style. Under the new Equal Opportunity legislation, the courts will decide if inherent religious requirements are necessary for the teaching of secular subjects like English, Maths or Physics. This will deny schools the right to exercise their discretion in employing people who will reflect their religious culture across the school.

Equally of concern, the act does not define "religion." So is a Baptist school of the "Baptist religion" or will the courts judge it more broadly as being of the "Christian religion"? It will be entirely up to the courts to decide which definition of religion will be applied to such a school.

Indeed, the new Equal Opportunity Act "inherent requirements" rules are so ambiguous, they leave religious organizations open to a range of legal prosecutions. The new legislation effectively gives the courts grounds to prevent schools and other religious organisations from dismissing or denying employment to people who are actively opposed to the religious beliefs of the institution. These same ambiguous "inherent requirements" rules will apply to volunteers as well as paid employees.

The new legislation gives the Equal Opportunity Commission extensive new powers for investigating suspected "systematic discrimination," even if no complaint has been made. Further, accused persons or church organisations will be required to provide documents in evidence to the Commission and to attend Commission hearings into their organization.

This is clearly Brave New World stuff happening right before our very eyes. I hope everyone of you reading this will be willing to take a stand on this one. Please follow the last two links below for more practical information on how you can stand up and be counted on this crucial issue.