Christians should ‘leave their beliefs at home or get another job’
I never know what to fully think of these articles. I know they teach things. I know they warn me of what may be to come, yet I never know what to think of them. This one I came across from my British friend on Facebook. This is happening there – not here.
However, one line struck me and I’m tripping over it; I’m recycling it over and over, again and again in my head. (Note: the article mentions a lot more instnaces then this one, this is just what hit me the most.)
Nadia Eweida, a BA worker, from Twickenham, south-west London, made the headlines when she was sent home in 2006 after refusing to remove a necklace with a cross or hide it from view.
An employment tribunal ruled Ms Eweida, a Coptic Christian originally from Egypt, had not suffered religious discrimination, but the airline changed its uniform policy after the case to allow all religious symbols, including crosses.
Nurse Shirley Chaplin, from Exeter, was moved to a paperwork role by the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust in Devon after refusing to remove a necklace bearing a crucifix.
Ms Chaplin told The Daily Telegraph that she felt “insulted” by the argument that Christians who are told by their employer that they cannot wear a cross at work can always find another job.
“My Christian faith isn’t something that you put on and then take off to go to work. It is with you 27/7. It is my identity, it is who I am, I cannot chop and change it,” she said.
I don’t wear or own anything with the image of the cross. Personally, I just cannot do it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t, I’m just saying I can’t. But I’m curious, if not being allowed to wear a cross, for whatever reason is something worth fighting over? Is being allowed to wear a cross necklace a tangible way of “picking up your cross” and following Jesus? How would you feel, if this was you?
I wonder if what it is we wind up fighting over is really worth it.
thereforethecross 