Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP will tackle the recent US and European phenomenon of Christian businesses being fined or prosecuted into extinction by refusing to render services for same-sex weddings when he gives the 2015 Acton Lecture on 14 October.
In a talk entitled ‘Should bakers be forced to bake cakes for same sex weddings?’ the archbishop will articulate the importance of religious liberty and freedom of conscience as a bedrock foundation of the modern, democratic state.
He will also reflect on the competing claims of law and conscience and how conflict between the two ought to be resolved.
Archbishop Fisher has spoken about marriage and freedom extensively over the past year, including at the Order of Malta’s Defence of the Faith lecture on 22 July:
“The push to redefine marriage in Australia is not the done deal some think it is and those who resist it are not all bigots without reasons to offer, as some suggest,” the archbishop said.
“Too much of the supposed ‘debate’ over the issue so far in Australia has been slogans, emotional spin and almost unprecedented public bullying of opponents. The real debate has hardly begun and we should resist being railroaded into this social change too quickly.”
The 2015 Acton Lecture will be given at the Centre for Independent Studies, Level 4, 38 Oxley Street, St Leonards.
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