I read recently how a UK-based non-profit Christian organisation which supports men and women with homosexual issues who voluntarily seek change in their lives was jettisoned by their bank because of what an LGBT organisation said about them.
The Core Issues Trust has been targeted by LGBT activists because they offer one-to-one counselling and support services for those who experience unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion.
It respects the rights of individuals who identify as 'gay' who do not seek change and supports dignity for LGBT persons. It does not support gay ‘marriage’ - usually considered an ‘equality’ issue, premised on the belief being gay is "biological" and is therefore unchangeable.
Conversion Therapy (Not!)
Activists have therefore smeared Core Issues Trust as providing ‘conversion therapy,’ a term which is often weaponized against any Christian organization wishing to help, accompany and support those who want to live according to traditional Christian values.
The LGBT organisation known as Stonewall, an influential LGBT activist group, tweeted Barclays Bank, demanding they withdraw their services and made false claims about the Core Issues Trust.
While Barclays hasn’t officially given a reason for their decision to close the bank accounts of the Core Issues Trust, their letter to the organisation came just two weeks after this tweet.
In addition to having had their bank accounts withdrawn, the Core Issues Trust has also had their Paypal facility removed, affecting supporters’ ability to make donations and Mailchimp have removed their services, meaning they cannot contact subscribers
It may not surprise you then to learn Barclays is currently listed at number 30 on a list of Top 100 employers published by Stonewall.
An assault on religious freedom.
Normally, when a bank decides to foreclose on a customer, it is because they have breached the terms and conditions of their contract, they owe too much money or have been involved in some kind of illegal activity.
Not so in the case of Core Issues Trust.
What activists cannot stand is organizations such as the Core Issues Trust refuse to validate their own personal choices and lifestyle and help others to explore how to live differently and according to Gospel values.
The CEO of the Core Issues Trust has been explicitly clear there is no compulsion or coercion, physical or emotional abuse involved in their ministry and has condemned abhorrent practices such as electroshock therapy and corrective rape.
They simply offer one-to-one counselling, but what particularly bugs the LGBT lobby is they are helping people who wish to see if they can move away from their attractions.
Such discrimination by Barclays is not only unjust, but it is also, arguably, illegal.
Barclays have kowtowed to these activists and thus given support to a campaign of harassment being waged against this Christian organisation.
Harassment
Thanks to these activists, this Christian ministry has faced a campaign of on and offline harassment, using identical tactics to the one waged against CitizenGo and its chairman, Caleb Stephen by transgender-rights activists last year and familiar to anyone who has ever dared to disagree with LGBT ideology in the public square.
The CEO of the Core Issues Trust has received text messages containing death threats, expressing a hope his wife and family are raped and killed, and has been signed up to pornographic LGBT websites and accounts.
They’ve also received nuisance phone calls and had their emails spammed so they are blacklisted and social media platforms have removed their ability to block trolls and have removed content and posts, even though they were previously allowed to stand for the past two years.
This might not be the fault of Barclays Bank but no doubt the people responsible for these crimes will see their actions as a validation of their criminal conduct.
Aim
My aim in this article is to inform readers of the continual and growing discrimination against Christians and Christian organisations world-wide.
My thanks to Caleb Stephen and the team at CitizenGO for much of the information contained in this article
John Skinner served as an infantry soldier in Vietnam then the Tasmanian Police before taking up the position of CEO of the Australian Rough Riders Association (professional rodeo based in Warwick Qld). Before retirement to his small farm, he was a photo-journalist for 25 years. He is married with 3 children and 7 grandchildren.
