Owen and Eunice Johns are experienced foster carers who have worked in this capacity for Derby City Council for several years, fostering 15 children. Parents to four children and with six grandchildren, they had reapplied to Derby City Council to work as respite carers for 5- to 8-year-olds after taking a break.
However, their application fell foul of a particularly poorly thought-out piece of legislation, The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 which says that carers have to support and even teach the view that same sex marriages are normal and acceptable. This is a view that the Johns, Pentecostal Christians, could not accept.
The local authority made their decision under the belief that the Johns' values could conflict with the local authority's duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of those in foster care. Such draconion thinking has left both Christians and non Christians alike wagging their heads in disbelief.
The Johns Ruling by Chief Justice Munby
Having been refused permission to take up their role as carers by Derby City Council, the Johns sought legal guidance from the Family Court in London where Chief Justice Munby ruled that their views might be harmful to children in their care.
Regrettably this legal precedence may contribute to more children languishing in children's homes instead of finding good foster carers to provide them with a loving environment at a time when they are most vulnerable.
Chief Justice Munby Ruling Inappropriate and Blinkered?
In an article published in The Daily Mail, the couple told reporter Tamara Cohen that they weren't homophobic and in fact had been to America to visit their gay nephew and his partner.
Mrs Johns, a retired nurse, said "This is a sad day for Christianity. The judges have said that our views might harm children. We are prepared to love and accept any child. The only thing we weren't prepared to do was to tell a small child that the practice of homosexuality is a good thing".
Owen Johns pointed out that 8-year-olds are more in need of the love and stability of a loving home which leads to mental and emotional wellbeing as an adult. They aren't interested in sex, nor need they be at that age.
God and my Right, the Foundations of British Law
It might be worth pondering that Britain was built on Christian principles. The very foundation of British Law is encapsulated in the phrase "Dieu et mon Droit" - "God and my Right" which is on the official coat of arms of the United Kingdom and, ironically decorates the portals of the Family Courts in London located on the Strand.
Source
- Tamara Cohen, The Daily Mail, Tuesday March 1, 2011
