TheCrackerPacker

The Church of England’s warning should be taken seriously. No legislation should place prayer, pastoral care or the ordinary expression of religious belief under the threat of criminal sanction. The state has no business policing the sincere practice of faith or dictating the boundaries of religious life. Criminalising prayer, restricting pastoral support and creating a climate in which religious teaching becomes legally precarious is a dangerous infringement on religious freedoms. This legislation must be challenged at every stage. We cannot allow an ideological agenda to acquire the force of criminal law at the expense of religious freedom, family life and the fundamental right to practise one's faith. It must be resisted, scrutinised and stopped.