Beware the alliance of the Church and the Fasces

Mussolini with Pope Pius XI after signing the Lateran Treaty

According to the BNP website, a Catholic Adoption agency called Catholic Care has ceased operations after the recent laws compelling companies and charities to provide 'equality in the provision of goods and services'. The Catholic Church was demanding an exemption from the law which would have forced them into allowing gay couples to adopt children (when homosexuality is strongly condemned by the Church of Rome).

The BNP headline Perverts' Charter Claims first Victim shows that the party has not softened its attitude towards homosexuals. Using the word 'pervert' implies that the only reason gay couples want to adopt children is so they can abuse them. We must not forget that while there may be scores of loving gay couples who wish to adopt children, the Catholic Church has long been accused of abusing children in its care. Who are the real perverts, you might ask?

The BNP supports the claims of religious groups that the new laws are a form of 'state-sanctioned secularist doctrine' and that the Sexual Orientation Regulations are a means by which the state is 'forcing Christians out of public life'.

The church, and in particular the Catholic Church, has a history of giving tacit support to fascist ideology. In spite of Mussolini's traditionally anti-clerical views, he formed an alliance with the Catholic Church as a political tactic to bring the conservative elements of Italian society under his control. He negotiated the Lateran Pact in 1926 which gave political independence to the Vatican City and negotiated the dissolution of the Catholic Party a few years earlier which he saw as a barrier to his regime.

Moreover, fascists and reactionary Christians are united in their opposition to Socialism with its promises of disobedience and social upheaval. Organized religion is a natural ally of fascism with its belief in ritual, superstition and prejudice masquerading as 'tradition'.

The government must not cave in to the power of organized religion - gay rights are universal, and no politician should advocate discrimination in any form.