Dear Editor,
I’m very pleased that new official guidance states that Christians must be allowed to wear a cross at work, if it doesn’t affect their jobs.
Bosses will be told not to prohibit religious symbols that don’t interfere with an employee’s work. Some firms had previously told staff to remove their crosses, but a document to be published by the Government’s Equalities Office instructs employers to draw up ‘flexible’ dress codes sensitive to religious needs. Equalities Office minister Victoria Atkins said: ‘Unjustified discrimination in the workplace is not only completely unacceptable but also against the law.’
Officials yesterday cited the case of Nadia Eweida, a British Airways employee who won her case in the European Court of Human Rights after the airline insisted she stop wearing a visible white-gold cross. She found it so unjust that other faiths were allowed to wear their religious symbols at work whilst she was not.
I think it’s a good idea for Christians to wear a cross lapel-pin or small cross necklace, as a silent but visible witness. If they were to wear a cross in a busy shopping mall it will be seen by scores of people. It raises the profile of a Christian presence and would help stop MPs and the media stating ‘Britain is no longer a Christian country and there are few Christians left.’
If, for instance, every fourth person they see is wearing a Christian cross, they may be more inclined to take Christian opinion into account!
Blessings,
