Hallelujah!
Equalities watchdog says persecution of Christians must end – and blasts Lord’s Prayer film ban
THE Government’s equalities watchdog has hit out at politically correct public bodies and employers who victimise Christians because they fear offending others.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is to publish a major new report next week, seen by The Mail on Sunday, criticising overzealous organisations that unnecessarily drop references to Christmas or discipline believers who wear crosses at work.
The report, which highlights a string of cases first exposed by this newspaper, will:
Admonish the UK’s biggest cinema chains for banning a Church of England advertisement promoting the Lord’s Prayer, and open the door to a test case in the courts;
Support Nadia Eweida, a Christian check-in staff member at British Airways who was suspended for refusing to remove a cross;
Criticise housing association bosses who used ‘diversity’ policies to demote a Christian staff member for mild comments about gay marriage on his Facebook page;
Deride Government departments and town halls that have airbrushed ‘Christmas’ out of seasonal greeting cards or celebrations to avoid upsetting people of other beliefs.
The report follows a series of cases in which Christians have clashed with employers over their rights to express their religious beliefs. But to the fury of Christian campaigners, the Commission falls short of calling for reform of the controversial Equalities Act 2010 it was set up to police, which bans discrimination against minority groups including religious believers.
The Christian Institute said: ‘When the EHRC has to remind employers that it’s OK to celebrate Christmas, it shows how damaging the influence of the equality industry has been. No one needs to remind employers that it’s OK to celebrate gay pride. But celebrating Christmas? Apparently that’s dodgy ground. It’s crazy.’
But Commission chief David Isaac does lambast public bodies that rebrand their Christmas celebrations with terms such as ‘Winterval’, as Birmingham did in the late 1990s – though its festivities did still include Christmas events.
More recently, the Department of Energy & Climate Change was criticised for urging civil servants to send out Christmas cards referring only to ‘season’s greetings’.
Mr Isaac said fear of offending and a lack of understanding of the law was causing ‘misinterpretation and confusion’, and he urged businesses to adopt ‘sensible’ approaches to such issues.
He added: ‘I want to put the record straight… you can send Christmas cards and have a Christmas party.’
Mr Isaac is particularly critical of last November’s ban by cinema chains on the Lord’s Prayer advert, which featured the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and others reciting lines from the prayer.
Digital Cinema Media (DCM), the advertising arm of Odeon, Cineworld and Vue, initially encouraged the U-certificate film, which was due to be shown before Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
But then DCM suddenly pulled the plug, saying the film could offend cinema-goers and breach policy. Despite a furious backlash, it refused to back down.
Mr Isaac makes clear that legal action is still an option to clarify the law, and the Commission could initiate a case if approached to do so.
A section in the new report says: ‘There is no right in Britain not to be offended and, in our view, respect
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for people’s right to express beliefs with which others might disagree is the mark of a democratic society.
‘We are concerned that a single supplier is effectively able to control a very large proportion of the market and effectively impose a blanket ban on advertising of a religious nature.’
But the report rejects the view of Christian campaigners that the law is biased and puts the rights of some minority groups such as gay people ahead of religious believers.
Citing the 2009 case of the Cornish seaside hotel owners, exclusively revealed by The Mail on Sunday, who lost a court battle after refusing to allow a gay couple to stay in a double room saying they banned all unmarried couples, Mr Isaac said: ‘There has been a great deal of debate about the so-called hierarchy
BA suspends a Christian for wearing a cross - but lets Muslims wear hijabs
of rights. It doesn’t exist, but the courts have confirmed that when offering a commercial service, people cannot use their beliefs to discriminate against others.’
The Commission backs Ms Eweida, who won her discrimination case in the European Court of Human Rights in 2013 after British Airways ordered her to remove a cross she wore over her uniform.
It also backs a ruling against Trafford Housing Trust for demoting employee Adrian Smith for saying on his personal Facebook page that gay marriage in church was ‘an equality too far’ – another exclusive in this newspaper.
The Church of England welcomed the report for saying the cinema chains ‘were wrong to ignore basic rights on the freedom of religion’. But former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey criticised the Commission for not going far enough.
He said Mr Isaac was ‘ignoring the fact that there is currently a competition of rights and no one knows where they stand’.
A Church of Scotland spokesman said: ‘Our friends from the other faiths tell us not to forget the roots of our faith or of our faith festivals, so local authorities shouldn’t be embarrassed by the name.’
Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: ‘It is to be hoped this report will be followed by similar conclusions being reached by the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s counterparts north of the Border.
DCM declined to comment.