LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR?

They preach love and tolerance and compassion. And yet they condone bigotry, homophobia and intolerance. And now it’s official. That’s the only possible interpretation you can place on the Victorian Government’s new list of exemptions for religious groups from the anti-discrimination laws that the rest of us must adhere to.

Religious groups will be allowed to continue to discriminate against gays and lesbians and even single mothers and people of different religious persuasions.

And to make it worse the Attorney General Rob Hulls has announced his cave-in to the lobbying of major churches even before a parliamentary committee reviewing the exemptions has made its recommendations.

Why the high-handed haste?  Because, according to the Attorney-General of the ‘high level of interest and concern’ about the Government’s intentions.

Hulls say the changes strike the right balance between religious freedoms and a Victoria free of discrimination. They don’t. They weight heavily in favour of religious zealotry and bigotry.

It will give legal protection to hundreds of church-run organisations if they want to refuse to employ people or provide services to people if they don’t like the fact that you are male, female, homosexual, married or single, from a different religion, or if they think employing you or providing you services may undermine their beliefs.

And this protection covers church-run schools, hospitals and welfare services.

It means a church-run school can legally refuse to hire a gardener or a cleaner because he or she is gay. And this is in a state which has more exemptions to our Equal Opportunity laws than any other state in Australia.

No wonder the Catholic Church has hailed the news. Archbishop Denis Hart applauds it for ‘striking a fair and correct balance’. A fair and correct balance in his church’s favour, of course.

And what makes it worse is the ease with which anybody can start a religion and, in the past, get tax exemptions. Maybe there’s still room for American comedian Don Imus and his ‘Gooey Church of Death and the Discount House of Worship’.

No crazier than the kowtowing Hulls has just done.

© Copyright Derryn Hinch 2009