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The Liberal Democrats have appeared to demand that a sacked candidate must prove the divinity of Jesus Christ in court over his claims that he was deselected because of his Christian faith.
Award-winning former BBC journalist David Campanale is suing the Lib Dems after he was ejected as the party’s candidate for Sutton and Cheam in south London.
He claims that he was unfairly deselected because of his traditional Christian beliefs. The case has raised serious concerns over the place of Christians in the party.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams condemned the Lib Dems over the Campanale case and claimed that it is now “impossible” for orthodox Christians, Muslims or Jews to stand for the party.
The debate appears to have centred around whether it is possible to be a Lib Dem candidate and hold socially conservative views on issues like abortion, trans rights, and same sex marriage.
In his submission Mr Campanale’s lawyer had put that his Christian beliefs were protected under section 10 of the Equalities Act.
These included that “Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life” referenced in St John’s Gospel chapter 14 verse 6.
But in response the Lib Dem legal defence said that Mr Campanale should legally prove the statement of faith to be true in court.
It said: “[The statement] is outside the defendant’s knowledge and neither admitted nor denied; the claimant is required to prove the same.”
It is understood that Mr Campanale is considering bringing in expert witnesses to give evidence on the veracity of his beliefs including former Archbishop Williams and Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey who himself professes to be a Christian.
The issue of proving the divinity of Christ, the complexities of the Holy Trinity and proof of God’s existence have been debated for centuries by theologians and philosophers. The standard arguments are often seen as St Thomas Aquinas’ five ways to prove God’s existence - motion, efficient cause, possibility and necessity, graduation and design.
Speaking to The Independent, Mr Campanale said: "God needs no defence. He is after all the Judge. It’s whether the Liberal Democrats continue to be seen as out of touch in the dock of public opinion with the liberalism and tolerance of the British people.
“A lot of people back my Christian conviction that our nation's liberties were built upon Biblical foundations and the great story of Christian struggle through the generations for the abolition of slavery, the rights of children not to be sent up chimneys and the existence of trade unionism. If the party rediscovered and celebrated that story and not ridicule it, voters would pay the Lib Dems greater attention.”
In the same document the Lib Dems also disavowed two giants of their party’s recent history Charles Kennedy and Baroness Shirley Williams who themselves were traditional Christians.
Luke Taylor, the local councillor alleged to be at the forefront of forcing Mr Camanale out before replacing him as the Sutton and Cheam candidate, was accused of saying that party of Kennedy and Williams “was over”.
In its submission the party acknowledged this was the case saying: ”It is admitted that Mr Taylor said words to the effect that the party of past prominent Liberal Democrat with Christian beliefs, such as Shirley Williams and Charles Kennedy, ‘was over’. That was a statement of fact reflecting the current policy platforms and public political stance of the Liberal Democrats as shaped democratically by the decisions of its membership.”
The party has told The Independent that critics are “cherry picking” the document and that Campanale’s deselection was more about his treatment of activists.
A source said: “This is a case about a candidate who was dishonest and behaved badly towards local volunteers and we will not be gaslighted by him.
“The Liberal Democrat leader and a large number of our MPs are practising Christians, including many who were elected for the first time in July, and we refute this cherry-picking from a 34-page legal document.”
This is not the first time that the Lib Dem treatment of members with Christian values has come under question. Tim Farron was forced out as leader in July 2017 because of what was believed to be a backlash against his evangelical Christian views.
