Christian Group has bank account removed due to "unacceptable views"

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The Co-operative Bank has asked an evangelical Christian group to close its account because of its anti-homosexual views.

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The bank said the opinions of Christian Voice were incompatible with its support for diversity.

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Christian Voice said the bank, based in Manchester, was discriminating against it on religious grounds.

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It is now waiting for other religious groups with similar opinions to be asked to close accounts, it added.

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Christian Voice has held an account with the Co-operative Bank for about three years.

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BBC NEWS | UK | Co-op bank bars Christian groupIn response on their website Christian voice state:

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Stephen Green retorted: Of course we make ‘discriminatory pronouncements on grounds of sexual orientation’. We have been criticising homosexual rights ever since we started eleven years ago. Standing up for righteousness is what we do. http://www.christianvoice.org,uk In fact you could say there are dozens of such pronouncements in my own book The Sexual Dead-End, which was published in 1992. It is a conviction of our Christian faith that homosexual activity is sinful; in fact that it is an abomination in the eyes of God. It is also a conviction of ours that the Lord Jesus shed His precious blood to forgive the sins of all who put their trust in Him, including sexually-active homosexuals. We told the Co-op bank when we switched to them three years ago that we were a voice for Biblical values and that we promote traditional family life. They raised no problem with that at all, and at no time did they tell us about their militant pro-homosexuality. Even today, on their website, they keep that very quiet. Personal banking | Online banking | The Co-operative Bank Only in the staff recruitment section is there any word about ‘diversity’ and the words ‘in all its forms’ or sexual orientation are nowhere to be seen. All the questions on the ethical questionnaire we had to complete were to do with whether we traded in arms or chemicals or had dealings with oppressive regimes. We quite truthfully said we did not, and we reckon the Co-operative Bank is in breach of contract - not that we would want to continue with such a discriminatory outfit.

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BBC - Radio 4 - Today Programme Listen Again(Scroll down to 0750 to listen to a radio interview about this situation) Should a bank or other private organization refuse service on the basic of religious viewpoints?My own viewpoint - while I agree with the stance of the Co-Op, I am slightly worried that people's right to free speech should be the basic of discrimination.This message has been edited by Charles Knight, 26-Jun-2005 12:12 PM

Offhand, I think a brief opinion from you might be nice.Also, do you have a forum suggestion? Even though it does have religious considerations, it seems "Coffee House" material to me.Adminnemooseus

I was thinking Coffee shop as well. I'll edit a response in post 1.

Thread copied to the Christian Group has bank account removed due to "unacceptable views" thread in the Coffee House forum, this copy of the thread has been closed.