Foster Parent Ban: 'No Place’ in the Law for Christianity, High Court Rules
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: There is no place in British law for Christian beliefs, despite this country’s long history of religious observance and the traditions of the established Church, two High Court judges said on Monday.

Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson made the remarks when ruling on the case of a Christian couple who were told that they could not be foster carers because of their view that homosexuality is wrong.

The judges underlined that, in the case of fostering arrangements at least, the right of homosexuals to equality “should take precedence” over the right of Christians to manifest their beliefs and moral values.

In a ruling with potentially wide-ranging implications, the judges said Britain was a “largely secular”, multi-cultural country in which the laws of the realm “do not include Christianity”.

Campaigners for homosexual rights welcomed the judgment for placing “21st-century decency above 19th-century prejudice”. Christian campaigners claimed that it undermined the position of the Church of England.

The ruling in the case of Owen and Eunice Johns, from Derby, is the latest in a series of judgments in which Christians have been defeated in the courts for breaching equality laws by manifesting their beliefs on homosexuality.

Senior churchmen, including Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, recently began a campaign urging Christians to stand up for their rights and have petitioned the Prime Minister to review human rights laws.

In their ruling yesterday, the judges complained that it was not yet “well understood” that British society was largely secular and that the law has no place for Christianity. >>> Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, February 28, 2011

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Anti-gay Christian Couple Lose Foster Care Case
THE GUARDIAN: Court rules against Christian couple who claimed their beliefs on homosexuality should not prevent them becoming foster carers

A Christian couple opposed to homosexuality because of their faith have lost a landmark high court battle over the right to become foster carers.

Eunice and Owen Johns, aged 62 and 65, from Oakwood, Derby, went to court after a social worker expressed concerns when they said they could not tell a child a "homosexual lifestyle" was acceptable.

The Pentecostal Christian couple had applied to Derby city council to be respite carers but withdrew their application, believing it "doomed to failure" because of the social worker's attitude to their religious beliefs.

They asked judges to rule that their faith should not be a bar to them becoming carers, and that the law should protect their Christian values.

But Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson ruled that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation "should take precedence" over the right not to be discriminated against on religious grounds. >>> Press Association | Monday, February 28, 2011

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Henceforward, it is to be hoped that Muslim couples will also be disallowed from fostering children, because no faith is as homophobic as Islam is (if indeed Islam is a faith rather than a socio-political ideology). Somehow, though, I can't see this happening, can you? – © Mark

Christian Couple Face Foster Ruling over Views on Homosexuality
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The High Court will today rule in a case involving a Christian couple who say they were ''doomed not to be approved'' as foster carers because of their traditional views on homosexuality.

Eunice and Owen Johns, 62 and 65, said issues were raised over their suitability as foster carers after they told social workers they could not tell a child a homosexual lifestyle was acceptable.

The Pentecostal Christian couple from Derby had applied to Derby City Council to be respite carers.

But at a hearing last year, two High Court judges, sitting at Nottingham Crown Court, heard the couple withdrew their application after a social worker expressed concerns over their attitudes towards homosexuality.

At the hearing of the case, the couple's lawyer Paul Diamond told the court the couple were ''doomed not to be approved'', which was why they agreed with Derby City Council to seek clarification of the law from the High Court. >>> | Monday, February 28, 2011

Germany Admits Enslaving and Abusing a Generation of Children
Youths digging turf at Diakonie Freistatt, one of the church institutions, near Hannover, in the 1960s. Photograph: The Independent
THE INDEPENDENT: Government agrees up to €120m in compensation for three decades of post-war 'Nazi-era' brutality in foster homes

Germany has owned up to one of the most disturbing examples of mass child and youth abuse in its post-war history, some 60 years after the first teenagers started being locked away and mistreated by supposedly "caring" foster homes.

The country agreed yesterday to provide a €120m (£101m) compensation fund for the estimated 30,000 victims who were among the 800,000 children in German foster homes in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies.

Institutions that for decades meted out inhuman treatment – including ritual beatings, periods of solitary confinement, forced labour and sexual assaults – were not youth remand centres or borstals as might be expected, but homes run by nuns and priests in former West Germany's Catholic and Protestant churches, as well as state-run homes. Read on and comment >>> Tony Paterson in Berlin | Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Reinstated, the Foster Parent Struck Off for Allowing Muslim Girl to Convert to Christianity
MAIL ONLINE: A foster parent struck off after a Muslim girl in her care converted to Christianity has won the right to be reinstated.

Gateshead Council’s decision to remove the carer from the register provoked a storm of controversy after it was highlighted by The Mail on Sunday last year.

The carer, who had looked after children for ten years and had a perfect record, was blamed for failing to ‘protect and preserve’ the girl’s Muslim faith when she was baptised, even though she was over 16 and had made up her own mind to change her religion.

Gateshead’s decision was quashed by a court in Leeds last week, prompting criticism of the former head of its children’s services, Maggie Atkinson, who is now Children’s Commissioner for England.

The foster carer, who cannot be named to preserve the anonymity of the girl, said last night that her loss of income had been ‘devastating’.

She added: ‘In addition to losing the Muslim teenager, another girl I was looking after was taken back into care. And I lost the farmhouse I rented to look after vulnerable teenagers.’

She said she was seeking damages from the council. >>> Jonathan Petre | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Muslim Girl in Baptism Row Was Fleeing an Arranged Marriage
MAIL Online: The foster mother struck off for allowing a Muslim girl to convert to Christianity took the child in after she was threatened with an arranged marriage.

The woman, a devout Christian, was asked to care for the teenager after the authorities learned of her abusive family background.

Her father beat her just for chatting to boys and warned he would haul her off to Pakistan to marry against her will, a friend claimed.

But council officials were angered when the girl chose to be baptised. They insist the foster mother failed in her duty to preserve the girl's original religion.

As a result, the girl was removed and the foster mother struck off the register last November, despite having worked with children for ten years with a perfect record. >>> By Tom Kelly | Saturday, February 14, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Christian Foster Mother Struck Off After Muslim Girl Converts
A foster mother with 10 years' experience was struck off after a Muslim girl in her care converted to Christianity, it has emerged.

The woman has been banned by her local council for failing to prevent the teenager from getting baptised, even though the girl was 16 and made up her own mind to change religion.

The carer, a churchgoer in her 50s who has fostered more than 80 children, has now been forced to move out of her home.

She has lost the farmhouse she rented to look after vulnerable teenagers, due to the loss of income.

Another girl she was looking after has been taken back into care.

The woman, who has launched a legal challenge to the council's challenge, told the Daily Telegraph: "I just want to get my life back.

"I still hope to resolve this so that I can possibly foster again in the future as I simply enjoy helping young people."

Religious groups and fostering charities condemned the council's decision, which comes amid a nationwide shortage of foster parents.
Last year the Fostering Network launched an urgent appeal for more than 5,000 families to come forward.

The ruling has increased concerns that Christians are becoming victims of discrimination in Britain, following the case of Caroline Pstrie, the nurse suspended for offering to pray for a patient.

She was subsequently reinstated. >>> By Matthew Moore | Sunday, February 8, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>