The head of the equality watchdog says that some Christians simply "want to have a fight" over discrimination.
Trevor Phillips told the Sunday Telegraph that the debate over Christian opposition to homosexuality was motivated by politics.
"I think for a lot of Christians, they want to have a fight and they choose sexual orientation as the ground. I think that whole argument isn't about the rights of Christians. It's about politics."
He said that they would be better to focus on issues such as gambling or human trafficking which defend Christian values.
"I think the most likely victim of actual religious discrimination in British society is a Muslim but the person who is most likely to feel slighted because of their religion is an evangelical Christian.
"There are a lot of Christian activist voices who appear bent on stressing the kind of persecution that I don't think really exists in this country.
"There are some Christian organisations who basically want to have a fight and therefore they're constantly defining the ground in such a way that anyone who doesn't wholly agree with them is a essentially a messenger from Satan."
He said that all religious groups should obey anti-discrimination laws because they are charities providing a public service.
But the equality campaigner also believes that the state should not interfere in religious organisations.
"It's perfectly fair that you can't be a Roman Catholic priest unless you're a man," he said. "It seems right that the reach of anti-discriminatory law should stop at the door of the church or mosque."
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