In another example of the growing pressure on people who believe in traditional marriage, a magistrate in Britain has been reprimanded for stating his belief that children are best raised by a mother and a father.
It was during a hearing to decide an adoption case that Richard Page, a Christian, stated his belief in private to colleagues that a child was best served by being raised by a man and a woman as opposed to a gay couple. Mr Page later discovered that his comment had been reported as misconduct and a breach of his oath of office.
Subsequently called before a conduct panel, Mr Page was informed that his role as a magistrate required him to “do right to all manner of people without fear or favour, affection or ill will”, meaning that his alleged reliance on his religious beliefs had led him to breach that undertaking. According to Mr Page, he countered with the argument that the same oath of office includes the phrase “so help me,God” and in that he had the right to make the best decisions with God’s help.
However, Mr Page has now been informed by Britain’s Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice, who rule on magistrates’ disciplinary matters, that he was to be reprimanded for having been “influenced by his religious beliefs and not by the evidence”. He was, the judges also ruled, in breach of the Labour Equality Act in seeking to rule against a gay adoption based on his religious beliefs.
Reacting to the case, Mr Page, who must undergo equality training to keep his job, said, “there is tremendous pressure to keep quiet and go along with what is seen to be politically correct.
“Everyone else seems to be allowed to stand up for their beliefs except for Christians.”