Christians opposed to equality laws likened to Muslims wanting sharia imposition in UK

London, Feb 17(ANI): The UK human rights watchdog chief has compared Christians who want to be exempted from equality legislation to Muslims trying to impose sharia on the country.

Equality and Human Rights Commission chairman Trevor Phillips said religious rules hould end "at the door of the temple" and give way to the "public law" laid down by the British Parliament.

"You can't say because we decide we're different then we need a different set of laws.o me there's nothing different in principle with a Catholic adoption agency, or indeed Methodist adoption agency, saying the rules in our community are different and therefore the law shouldn't apply to us. Why not then say sharia can be applied to different parts of the country? It doesn't work," The Telegraph quoted Phillips, as saying.

He added that Roman Catholic adoption agencies providing public services must choose between obeying their religion or law when their religious beliefs conflict with the will of the state.

Legal experts and religious leaders, however, condemned Phillips' remarks as 'inflammatory'.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey called on the authorities to respect the nation's heritage as a democracy in which the Church of England is the established religion.

"We are a democracy in which Christianity is established in the Church of England and a nation profoundly influenced by this faith in its Catholic and Anglican heritage. We need lawmakers to respect this heritage and seek accommodation wherever a strongly held faith seems to clash with new legislation," he said.(ANI)