LONDON, ENGLAND, October 18, 2000 (Web Today)—Rigid new anti-discrimination laws protecting employment rights for all citizens of the European Union could wind up putting Christian employers in jail.

The only exceptions to the anything and anyone goes mandates of the law which arose from the European Convention on Human Rights are for positions where "it is essential for the post to be filled" by someone belonging to a particular community of faith.

Thus, it would probably be illegal for an English church to deny an atheist secretarial applicant. While the rights of a particular faith group to worship as it pleases would likely not be infringed by this law, it could become increasingly difficult for church schools and other charitable institutions to function at full effectiveness.

Of course, this would likely throw more of the cost of caring for the indigent and Europe’s youth back on the state, costing taxpayers even more.

The challenge for decision makers in the European Union appears to be finding a way to protect human rights without undercutting the moral values of a particular belief system.

Those who cannot and will not accept the new status quo in Fortress Europe may well find out what life is like behind bars.

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