From The London Guardian-
There's clearly something in the water in the West Country that stimulates the desire for a lawsuit. On Tuesday, Shirley Chaplin (no relation), lost her battle against the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospitals NHS Trust to wear her crucifix at work. She is the latest of a series of Christians alleging that they are being discriminated against for their faith.
Before her came Somerset nurse Caroline Petrie, who was suspended after offering to pray with a housebound patient, and then the supply teacher from Weston-super-Mare, Olive Jones, who was suspended by her local authority while she was investigated for having given her testimony to a sick pupil.
For some Christians – including it would seem the former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey – this demonstrates a pattern of persecution. Christians are not allowed their symbols, where Muslims and others are. Today a crucifix ban, tomorrow an auto-da-fé. Writing last month to the Daily Telegraph, Carey and his fellow signatories were quite clear:
"The cross is ubiquitous in Christian devotion from the earliest times and clearly the most easily recognisable Christian symbol. For many Christians, wearing a cross is an important expression of their Christian faith and they would feel bereft if, for some unjustifiable reason, they were not allowed to wear it. To be asked by an employer to remove or 'hide' the cross, is asking the Christian to hide their faith."
There is, however, an irony that Carey, along with most reporting of this case, seems to have missed. According to a very supportive profile of Chaplin by in the Daily Mail, she is a member of the Free Church of England. Indeed, in the photo of her leaving the employment tribunal she is accompanied by the Exeter presbyter of the Free Church of England, John Eustice.
More here-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/08/right-wear-crucifix-christian
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