Nov 10
17
Christian continues to defend herself on homosexual adoption controversy
The Daily Telegraph – November 17, 2010
God doesn’t want homosexual practices, says sacked Christian doctor
A CHRISTIAN paediatrician who was dismissed from an adoption panel over her belief that children should not be placed with same-sex couples told a tribunal yesterday that “homosexual practice is not how God wants us to live”. Dr Sheila Matthews lost her post with Northamptonshire County Council in April last year when she asked to abstain from voting in cases involving homosexual couples because of her religious beliefs. The 50-year-old, from Kettering, Northants, said she felt that children “do best” in a home “with two parents of different gender who are in a long-term committed relationship”.
She told an employment tribunal in Leicester: “My faith leads me to believe that marriage between a man and a woman in a faithful monogamous sexual relationship is the most appropriate environment for the upbringing of children. I believe the Bible shows God’s ideal pattern for healthy living, where family units are headed by socially and legally recognised heterosexual couples committed to lifelong partnership. The Bible is also clear that homosexual practice is not how God wants us to live.”
Dr Matthews, who yesterday lost her claim of religious discrimination against the council, told the hearing that she began researching same-sex adoption after a training course in 2004 and felt that her beliefs are supported by “rational scientific research”. “I became aware there was evidence to suggest that children placed with same-sex couples did less well,” she said. “I believe a same-sex relationship is not the best, most healthy, environment in which to raise children.” She claimed that a “gay lifestyle” “is not appropriate to encourage children towards it”.
Martin Pratt, the council’s former head of services for children and families, told the tribunal that the authority wrote to Dr Matthews to terminate her position after she told him she was unable to set aside her beliefs on same-sex couples. “I asked her whether she could consider applicants on their merits . and she said she could not,” he said. Mr Pratt said her “inability to act fully in her capacity” contradicted their policies. Dr Matthews said their decision had left her “with no option but to conclude that people of faith are not permitted to sit on Government bodies unless they are prepared to silence their beliefs”. Dismissing the case yesterday, regional employment judge John MacMillan said: “There is simply no factual basis for the claims.”