A coalition of more than 1,000 pastors in the United Kingdom reportedly expressed readiness for imprisonment in the face of the government's "conversion therapy" ban being implemented.
CBN News said 1,400 pastors of the coalition have signed a petition for the government to discontinue the ban on so-called "conversion therapy," which is but counseling providing by religious groups to members of the LGBTQ community. The conversion ban prohibits ministers from assisting those who have the pastoral need for guidance on unwanted same-sex attraction. The ban is also feared to prevent ministers from sharing the Gospel.
The issue on the matter started to surface in May, as lawmakers raised convicting a person for saying "the wrong kind of prayer," in efforts to push the LGBTQ agenda and cancel out religious groups assisting their members in need of help.
The effort to ban conversion therapy is spread in Europe such that a Christian group, the Christian Institute, has announced to fight the Northern Ireland government in court if it bans "conversion therapy," which includes religious leaders praying with and for those who suffer from gender dysphoria. The Christian Institute then launched last month "Let Us Pray," a prayer campaign advocating against the government's conversion therapy ban.
The government, in response to the clamor of Christian groups against the ban, have clarified that they have no intention of hampering the practice of religion.
However, the coalition of pastors pointed out in the letter they sent to the Secretary of State on the matter that the legislation's draft states otherwise. They raised that the law's text show the big possibility that the practice of sharing the Gospel among the needy would be impacted once the ban is imposed.
"We are grateful to the government for having made clear in the consultation that it does not intend this legislation to impact the normal practice of religion. Nevertheless, we are deeply concerned that the legislative approach outlined would do exactly this," the pastors said.
"We see in these proposals a clear possibility that our duty as ministers, of proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and calling people to find life in him, which includes living by his laws, will be criminalized. We also believe it could be used against Christian parents who could equally be criminalized for loving advice and teaching given to their own children," they added.
The pastors pointed out that the counseling they give of the needy that includes those with same-sex attraction and those reflecting on undergoing gender transition, is never given forcefully or done as a matter of "control" but only to those who seek it. They underscored that such a counseling is " far from being harmful" but rather an act of mercy that is "of benefit to all" especially those who find their happiness by "misusing and harming their healthy bodies."
In addition, the pastors also raised the vagueness of the term "conversion therapy" used in the legislation that could easily be given a variety of implications such as a conversion to Christianity from another religion. They expressed finding the legislation bizarre for being unclear while "criminalizing" Christian pastors in the fulfillment of their duties, which in turn, is a "clear breach of our legal right to manifest our religion."
The pastors then ended in stating that should the government still continue to implement the ban, they would not think twice in persisting to do their duty to God in the preaching of the Gospel and in fulfilling its word by helping those in need.
"We therefore very much hope (and pray) that these proposals will be dropped in their current form. We have no desire to become criminals, and place a high value on submitting to and supporting our government. Yet we think it important you are aware that if it were to come about that the loving, compassionate exercise of orthodox Christian ministry, including the teaching of the Christian understanding of sex and marriage, is effectively made a criminal offense, we would with deep sadness continue to do our duty to God in this matter," the pastors ended.
