Equal rights or freedom of conscience??? The Equality Act

[Joe]

Rights of same-sex couples to adopt children from Catholic agencies, ie, the right not to be discriminated against; the right, by Catholics & their adoption agencies not to place children with homosexuals, ie, rights of conscience or freedom of conscience, OR the rights of the children to grow up in a loving & stable environment.
The Equality Act prohibits discrimination in the provision of goods & services on grounds of sexual orientation. The Catholic leaders have reacted by threatening to shut down their successful adoption agencies if they are not (a lil' bit) exempt from the rules. They said, "rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation..." + their beliefs/teachings prevent them from placing children with homosexual couples.
The govt has since decided that the Catholic agencies, in short, better get used to it! They've been given a deadline to comply with the said laws.
Now, how do u solve a problem like this? Whose rights are more important? What do u think???

[Michael]

There's no doubt this is a tricky issue - you don't have to be a brainbox to see the different sides to the argument and like many ethical issues, I don't think there's a right and wrong on this one.

I was so interested to hear this morning (on thought for the day by a Hindu speaker) of the issue of the TB infected sacred cow in South Wales. The authorities have condemned it to slaughter because it has TB. The Hindu community are appalled as the cow is sacred to them. Again it can seem like a black and white issue, but what the speaker said is that we need laws that do take into account differing beliefs and value systems, so that people with different customs (or say sexuality) can be accommodated in our society. So for the Hindu's, a suggestion was for the TB infected cow to be treated and cured rather than killed. It seemed very sensible to me.

So why can't the Catholics have their rules on adoption and let the government worry about their own agencies. In fact I think it's less about rights on this one, than the nanny state interfering with everyone's business which certainly isn't alwasy to everyone's benefit.