Sexual Orientation Regulations for NI

I would appreciate prayer for this matter. The potential ramifications of this new law, coming into power on January 1st 2007, are quite sobering for believers.

I'll link to some associated articles but just a paragraph or two here to give you an idea of what its about.

"The Christian Institute has challenged the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to withdraw the new Sexual Orientation Regulations. The Institute is considering launching a judicial review because the Regulations blatantly infringe religious liberty and involve a fatally flawed consultation process.

"The new Regulations outlaw discrimination in the provision of goods, services and education on the grounds of sexual orientation. Fines range between £500 and £15,000 but up to £25,000 for repeated breaches.
The problem is that the Regulations are so loosely worded that they enable court actions over church membership, teaching on marriage in schools, or the ethos of a religious charity. Religious magazines could be sued for refusing to take adverts from gay rights groups. A wedding photographer could lose his livelihood for refusing to cover a civil partnership ceremony.

"The Regulations can be used to override matters of Christian conscience or to harass Christians on their beliefs. If a gay rights group does not like a particular Christian charity it could hound the charity in the courts. This is not at all far fetched. In the USA the Scouts have had to spend over $1 million defending the organisation from hostile litigation from gay rights groups using similar laws."

http://www.christian.org.uk/pressreleases/2006/december_05_2006.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=419067&in_page_id=1770

http://www.christian.org.uk/home.htm