I’m sure I don’t need to further identify the title character who has now somehow reached the dizzying heights of headlines in most of the UK news media. Enoch Burke has become a household name being ridiculed by most but admired, mostly quietly, by some who are probably just glad they haven’t ended up in the same situation.
It might seem funny to create St Patrick's Day floats and design Mother’s Day cards with cartoon images of Burke forlornly standing outside the school from which he has now been dismissed, but this is a family man and an evangelical Christian who, despite the devastating consequence, has chosen to stand up for what he believes is right.
For those who haven’t kept up, the bizarre set of circumstances that has now resulted in Burke not only being sacked as a teacher but also imprisoned and subject to an ever increasing daily fine, began last year when he refused to call a “transgender” child by their preferred pronouns. Quite rightly, Burke stated that he was unable to comply because such an action conflicted with his Christian beliefs.
You might have thought that, at this stage, the principal of the school would take some time to consider the wisest way forward as even a simpleton knows that gender/sex and religion are both protected from discrimination under the Equality and Human Rights Act.
Instead, he was immediately suspended, an action which would usually only occur if keeping someone in a workplace caused an unacceptable risk of further harm. Another reason might be to prevent someone tampering with evidence or to prevent them interfering with the investigation. None of these apply to this scenario which leads to the conclusion that no investigation was intended and the decision had been made to dismiss him immediately without due process. (I’m sure this aspect will be picked up and challenged when the furore dies down.)
So far, nothing particularly spectacular as sadly we are seeing daily reports of Christians being suspended, then sacked in similar situations across the UK. It’s worth mentioning that many of these people have later received compensation or been reinstated, usually after lengthy court battles, but the emotional damage is catastrophic for the individuals and their families.
In many ways, I’m grateful that my own small scrape with the politically correct brigade took place 15 years ago when gay and transgender rights didn’t trump all others; my police force did drag me through a disciplinary procedure but didn’t suspend me. For the full story you can read Planet Police.
Enoch Burke, however, wasn’t going to meekly take his unfair punishment; despite the suspension, he turned up at the school daily insisting on his “right to work”. The school obtained a court order banning him from the premises, he continued his protest, was arrested and then imprisoned for contempt of court. His brother has now also been arrested for a public order offence after protesting at one of his appeal hearings. What a muddle….but is he right?
I don’t think we can be dogmatic one way or the other about Burke’s response to his suspension. If he honestly believes that God has placed him in that workplace and he is taking a stand for something that conflicts with his beliefs, then it is a conscience issue for him. You could say that the disciples, whose work was preaching the Gospel, refused to stop in order to obey God rather than men. They too were imprisoned and many were martyred for their faith.
However, Christians can and should be dogmatic about the original cause of the suspension. We should challenge cultural pressure that seeks to force us to sin; to lie and state that a girl is actually a boy or a man a woman. We shouldn’t withdraw from the debate, hide away or stay silent when Christian freedoms are at stake.
Health professionals are being forced to change patient records when they change gender which is actually the crime of falsifying records under current UK law. It’s also potentially damaging to patients who won’t be picked up for the various gender specific cancer screenings, or whose medical condition might be misunderstood without the true information.
The trend is continuing; a street preacher was arrested for “misgendering” someone who approached him and asked his views on the LGBT movement. Incredibly, he was convicted at Magistrates Court before his conviction was later quashed on appeal. The most worrying thing about this case was the hounding and abuse of the preacher by the crowd who largely seemed to support the view that he had committed a homophobic hate crime simply by speaking the truth.
Another headline this week stated that teachers are tiptoeing around as they are afraid of saying something that will cause them to end up like Enoch Burke. Those of us who are Christians must stand up and be counted, or it won’t be long before we too fall foul of the same cultural swing that took away his livelihood and freedom.
So often our Christian lives are comfortable and we get along with everyone. Is this harmony only because we are afraid to speak out? Is it because we haven’t even identified ourselves as Christians let alone taken a stand on anything important? Are we more worried about offending people than speaking the truth in love? What about the eternal destiny of those around us; have we offered true hope in Jesus?
We should remember that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3 vs 12)
I’m sure that’s Enoch Burke’s heart desire. Let’s pray for him and his family as he deals with the fallout.
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