Hong Kong protesters rally against ‘religious hegemony’

The pastor of the Evangelical Free Church, Patrick So Wing Chi, had said in mid-January that to include same-sex cohabitants under the law would result in more AIDS cases, and more college graduates would turn to “male prostitution”. His speech was regarded by protestors as intolerant towards homosexuals.
Legislators in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, are proposing an amendment to a law on domestic violence to include same-sex couples. The Domestic Violence Ordinance of 1986 covers married couples and heterosexual cohabitants. It was amended in August and extended coverage to former spouses or cohabitants, as well as immediate and extended family members. The Hong Kong government has proposed applying the measure to same-sex couples.
“The Concern Group Against Religious Hegemony” organized a protest on February 15 marching to the evangelical church, where they stood in a moment of silence outside the building and then sang the prayer of St Francis to indicate their support for religious tolerance. The group then marched to a Christian association, which says its aim is to address social ethics and sexual culture but has been labeled locally as a “moral Taliban” due its standpoint on a number of social issues.  Chun Hei Fai, one of the organizers of the protest, told journalists that believers should not focus on dogmas while ignoring universal values such as tolerance and respect. He said that religious conservatism was eroding civil society.
It was reported that the Evangelical Free Church had shortened its time for Sunday worship on the day of the demonstration, so that the congregation could leave before protesters arrived. The church also asked its faithful to be polite and not to argue with protesters if they met the crowd.
The free church issued a statement on February 16 saying it respects freedom of speech, even if the opinions of others differ from those of the church. At the same time, the church “would continue to engage in debate on public affairs, according to the biblical principles and the law in Hong Kong.”  Also on February 16, Carver Yu Tat-sum, president of a local theological school, in a newspaper letter, lamented that that pro-family Christians were labeled as the “religious right”. He said he feared that if such people were requested to keep quiet, a trend could emerge in which Christians would be unable to express their concerns.
At the same time, Joseph Cheng Yu Shek, a Roman Catholic political science
professor, told Catholic media that the advocacy work of Christians should be based on dialogue. Regarding the recent debate on the anti-family-violence law, he was critical of a failure by Christians to match the expectations of  society as a whole.