While we generally welcome the approach of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) in respect of protections for churches with regard to same-sex marriage, we do have significant concerns about the increased trend towards the privatisation of religious conviction and belief, including the Christian faith, in the public square.
The proposals as brought forward by the NIO will negatively impact on local businesses such as florists and photographers who are not religious bodies, but who do not wish to separate their business practices from their right to manifest their religion in practice and observance – protections provided by the European Convention on Human Rights. The same could be said of those employed by local authorities and other public bodies.
People of faith are part of the fabric of everyday life in Northern Ireland serving their neighbours and local communities through their businesses, public service, support for the marginalised and many other ways. In an increasingly pluralist society, creative ways should surely be found to facilitate reasonable accommodations that properly value the role of conscience in the public square. For example in the case of a civil registrar, who may not wish to officiate at a same-sex marriage ceremony, a local council could provide alternative arrangements to protect that employee’s freedom of conscience, whilst not frustrating the legal right of individuals to avail of the new legislative provisions.
This is not a licence to discriminate. On the contrary it is a reminder that we must be wary of unintended consequences for one section of our society when seeking to provide protections for another, and of the necessity for continued high quality dialogue and engagement on these issues to facilitate the common good.
In these matters reasonable accommodations must be found, and if necessary provided for through legislation. To compel people of faith to compromise their strongly held religious convictions, or indeed force people of faith out of valuable roles in our community, runs contrary to what we all desire to be – an open, tolerant and pluralist society where everyone can play their part.
You can read the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s submission to the Northern Ireland Office public consultation on proposals to allow for same-sex religious marriage in Northern Ireland here.