Christian Freedom under further threat
(Excerpt from a report by John McClean, Convenor of the Church and Nation Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Australia with slight modifications)
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) released a consultation paper in January 2023 and invited submissions by late February. The paper recommends that schools should have no exemptions which allow them to discriminate against students on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status or pregnancy or on the grounds that a family member or carer has one of these attributes. It accepts that schools should be able to have uniform requirements, though even these would have to accommodate for “transgender and gender diverse” students. It also recommends that religious educational institutions only be able to preference staff with a faith commitment for positions that directly teach religious material or lead religious activities, that is chaplains or Christian studies teachers. Even then such preference would not be allowed to equate to discrimination. This would mean that a school could not refuse to employ a Christian studies teacher who said they were a Christian but was in a sexual relationship outside of marriage.
If these proposals become federal law, they will erode the capacity of Christian schools to offer a distinctive education in a community shaped by a faith ethos. Furthermore, schools may be subject to complaints under the Act for policies relating to student behaviour in the area of sexual expression generally; uniform requirements, the provision of bathrooms, changerooms and accommodation, as well as requirements that students attend chapel and take classes which teach classic Christian views of sex, marriage and gender.”
The Consultation document gave a series of examples of the impact it envisaged would flow from the proposed changes to the Sex Discrimination Act. One of these was that “a school could no longer refuse to accept as school captain a LGBTQ+ student elected or appointed in accordance with its applicable process”.
Th ALRC is due to present its final report to the Attorney-General soon. The public release of the report will then be in the hands of the Attorney-General. The government will then consider its response to the ALRC report. That will be an important window for schools, churches and individuals to contact government leaders and MPs to express their concern that Christian schools be able to continue to pursue their holistic mission and cultivate a genuine Christian ethos.
Please pray earnestly that the Holy and merciful God will not allow this formally Christian nation to further rebel against His truth and restrict God’s church to uphold the same.
基督徒自由受到進一步的威脅
（摘自澳大利亞長老宗「教會與國家委員會」召集人約翰·麥克萊恩的報告；略有修改）
澳大利亞法律改革委員會(澳法改會)於2023年1月發布了一份諮詢文件，並邀請有關人士在2月下旬之前提交意見。該文件建議，學校不應有任何豁免，允許它們以性別、性取向、性別認同、婚姻或關係狀況，或懷孕為由，或以學生的家庭成員或照顧者俱有這些特徵之一為由來歧視學生。它承認學校應該能夠要求學生穿校服，但這要求也必須顧及“跨性別和性別多樣化”的學生的需要。它還建議宗教教育機構只能優先選擇對其信仰委身的教職員擔任直接教授宗教材料或領導宗教活動的職位，即校牧或基督教課程教師。即便如此，也不允許把這種優先選擇構成歧視。這意味著學校不能拒絕聘用自稱是基督徒但有婚外性關係的基督教課程教師。
如果這些提案成為聯邦法律，它們將削弱基督教學校，作為一個由信仰塑造的羣體，提供獨特教育的能力。此外，在該法下，有關學生在性方面的表達；校服要求、厠所設備、更衣室和宿舍，要求學生參加崇拜，和要求他們上基督教對性、婚姻和性別觀點的課，學校都可能會因而受到投訴。”
諮詢文件給出了一系列示例，說明了它設想對《性別歧視法》的擬議修改將會產生的影響。其中之一是“學校不能再拒絕接受根據應有程序選出或任命的LGBTQ+學生擔任學校隊長”。
澳法改會將很快向總檢察部長提交最終報告。報告的公開發布將交由總檢察部長處理。政府隨後將考慮對澳法改會報告的回應。這將是學校、教會和個人去聯繫政府領導人和國會議員的一個重要時機，以表達他們對基督教學校能夠繼續追求其整體使命並培養真正的基督教真理的關注。
請懇切禱告，求聖潔慈悲的神不允許這個曾經是基督教的國家進一步背叛祂的真理以及限制神的教會持守這真理。
