Special Legal Protection of Christianity 'Divisive, Capricious and Arbitrary'
TIMES ONLINE: Christianity deserves no protection in law above other faiths and to do so would be “irrational” , “divisive, capricious and arbitrary”, a senior judge said today, as he rejected a marriage guidance counsellor’s attempt to challenge his sacking for refusing to give sex therapy to gay couples.

In the latest clash between the judiciary and Christian believers, Lord Justice Laws said that laws could not be used to protect one religion above another.

He also delivered a robust dismissal to the former Archbishop of Canterbury who had warned that a series of recent court rulings against Christians could lead to “civil unrest.”

To give one religion legal protection over any other, “however long its tradition, however rich its culture, is deeply unprincipled”, the judge said.

It would give legal force to a “subjective opinion” and would lead to a “theocracy”, which is of necessity autocratic.”

The judge went on to dismiss Lord Carey’s plea for the establishment of a specialist panel of judges to hear cases involving the practice of religious beliefs.

That would be “deeply inimical to the public interest,” he said.

Lord Carey had given a witness statement in support of the counsellor, Gary McFarlane, 48, from Bristol, a member of a Pentecostal church.

Mr McFarlane wanted permission to appeal against an Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling that supported his sacking by Relate Avon in 2008[.]

The father of two, who had worked for the national counselling service since 2003, had alleged unfair dismissal on the grounds of religious discrimination.

But rejecting Mr McFarlane’s application to appeal, Lord Justice Laws said that legislation for the protection of views held purely on religious grounds could not be justified.

He said it was “irrational, as preferring the subjective over the objective”, adding: “it is also divisive, capricious and arbitrary.”

“We do not live in a society where all the people share uniform religious beliefs.["]

“The precepts of any one religion - any belief system - cannot, by force of their religious origins, sound any louder in the general law than the precepts of any other.”

“If they did, those out in the cold would be less than citizens, and our constitution would be on the way to a theocracy, which is of necessity autocratic. >>> Frances Gibb, Legal Editor | Thursday, April 19, 2010

Indian Ocean Island Votes on Becoming Fully French
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: Voters on Mayotte, a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, decide by referendum Sunday whether to become a full-fledged part of France, a change of status that would end local traditions like polygamy and Islamic courts.

Mayotte, 400 km (250 miles) east of Mozambique and 300 km west of Madagascar, is a former French colony that voted against independence in referenda in 1974 and 1976. It stayed French, with a status allowing legal differences from the mainland.

It has a population of about 186,000 people, of whom 95 percent are Sunni Muslims.

Keen to strengthen ties with mainland France that have kept Mayotte richer and more stable than the coup-prone neighbouring archipelago of Comoros, many islanders have long demanded to upgrade their status to a "departement," or full part of France.

"We may be black, poor and Muslim, but we have been French longer than Nice," Abdoulatifou Aly, a legislator from Mayotte, was quoted as saying in French weekly L'Express.

President Nicolas Sarkozy promised during his 2007 campaign a referendum to allow the people of Mayotte to decide.

If, as expected, they vote yes, a government road map says that Mayotte will become France's 101st department in 2011. >>> By Estelle Shirbon, Reuters | Sunday, March 29, 2009

L’EXPRESS: Mayotte bientôt 101e département français

Le référendum sur la départementalisation de l'île a débuté ce dimanche matin: un scrutin à l'issue duquel la victoire du "oui" semble assurée.

Une femme vote à Mayotte le 29 mars 2009. Crédits photo: AFP/Richard Bouhet et L’Express
Les 70.000 électeurs de Mayotte votaient dimanche pour faire de leur petite île de l'Océan indien le 101e département français et le 5è DOM, dernière étape d'un long processus entamé en 1974, dont ils espèrent qu'il leur garantira la stabilité et une amélioration de leur niveau de vie. L'issue du référendum ne fait guère de doute dans cette île où l'ensemble de la classe politique et les syndicats ont fait campagne pour le "oui", et où les seules voix discordantes sont venues de dignitaires religieux musulmans, qui dénoncent la disparition progressive de certaines de leurs prérogatives.

Sous un ciel bleu et une chaleur accablante, les Mahorais se rendaient à la mi-journée dans les 130 bureaux de vote répartis dans l'île, les femmes drapées dans leur "salouva", grand tissu aux couleurs lumineuses, assorti au "kichali", voile porté sur la tête, et les hommes chapeautés du "kofia", couvre-chef traditionnel que l'on retrouve dans tout l'archipel des Comores. >>> | Dimanche 29 Mars 2009