Churches give up sacrament forum over non-believer articles of faith

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent & , : {}

The Governments main advisory group on religion has collapsed in acrimony after church groups walked out in a row between atheists and believers.

The Church of England condemned the group as not fit for purpose and complained that each meeting degenerated into an impasse between secularists and the religious. Secularists hit back, accusing Christians of triumphalism and bullying. Muslims had already stopped attending the group, whose remaining few members are meeting tomorrow to decide whether it is worth carrying on at all.

Hindus, Bahais and secularists are still represented but the Church of England, Salvation Army, Methodist Church and Roman Catholic Church have all left, jeopardising its future.

Peter Vlachos, the National Secular Society delegate, said he was appalled and accused the church groups of abusing the forum.

Related LinksPope to release letter on Irish abuseVatican investigating 14 sex abuse cases in SpainEven atheists can thank Heaven for the tolerance of the Anglican Church

He said: Rather than supporting and championing equality and human rights, the Churches have tried to use the consultative process to try to gain further exemptions from equalities legislation. They wanted the freedom to discriminate and they didnt get it so now theyve walked away.

He claimed that correspondence sent to the society showed that the churches had hoped to turn the religion and belief consultation into an interfaith forum where the non-religious would be excluded.

The collapse of the Equality Commissions Religion and Belief Consultative Group comes as traditionalist Christians today petitioned the Equalities Minister Harriet Harman to intervene in the Equality Bill which tonight completed its passage through the Lords and now returns to the Commons. The traditionalists want to prevent a change in the law that will allow civil partnership ceremonies to take place in religious buildings.

Although the change is permissive which means no cleric could be prosecuted for refusing to carry out a gay marriage, bishops and other clergy fear that any who refuse could risk prosecution under European human rights legislation.

The Pope recently intervened in the debate over equality legislation in Britain. Benedict XVI is expected to use his visit to Britain in September to preach moral virtue.

Leaders across the churches continue to defend the right of Christians and other religions to discriminate against women, gays and others according to their religious beliefs.

The Religion and Belief Consultative Group was set up in 2004 as a reference group for the religion and belief representatives on the Steering Group for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Although the group advised the Equality and Human Rights Commission, it received no government funding and all attendance was voluntary.

Page 1 of 2&Next Page