Churches in the Australian state of Victoria have scored a notable win for religious freedom. Such victories cannot be taken for granted in an age which is both absolutising and misapplying the doctrine of equality. 

The Victorian government is reforming equality laws in the state and was planning to outlaw ‘discrimination’ on a host of new grounds including marital status and sexual orientation. 

Schools and other religious organisations were concerned that they would have to employ individuals whose lifestyles were openly at variance with their ethos. 

However, the latest version of the legislation will protect religious freedom and the Catholic archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, is among those welcoming the change. 

As he wrote in a newspaper article: “I…welcome the decision of the Victorian Government to allow religious organisations to remain true to their faith and values while prohibiting unjustified discrimination in the name of religion on the basis of race, age, disability or impairment.” 

The leader writer in The Age was not so welcoming. The editorial attacked the decision and wondered why religious organisations should be allowed to ‘discriminate’. The editorial allows that a Catholic priest must be Catholic (very generous), but it also believes religious organisations should be obliged to employ active homosexuals, or heterosexuals living with their partners outside marriage, if those people are otherwise qualified for the job. 

But of course, the refusal by most religious organisations to do so is tied up with the Christian (and more broadly the traditionalist) view of the truth and meaning of human sexuality which attaches it firmly to both marriage and heterosexuality. 

If a Catholic school was forced to employ a teacher living with someone outside marriage it would severely undermine that school’s ability to say that sex outside marriage is wrong.

Discrimination is justified when there is a rational ground for it. (Who would employ an 80 year old pilot?) Heterosexual marriage is worth defending and it is impossible to do so if you are forced to employ those who do not believe in it, or who otherwise undermine it. 

(This has been reproduced from David Quinn’s blog at the Irish Catholic website.)