Posted by
Ben Amis on Monday, July 16, 2007 8:57:36 PM
I was going to use to this entry to talk about Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, however there is another more pressing issue I feel compelled to write about, especially since I've already written an article on the Mid-East PM. You can read it
here.
This pressing issue is an assault upon the freedom of religion in the United Kingdom. Our background story starts at the Millais School in Horsham (about forty miles south of London), where sixteen-year-old student Lydia Playfoot has been banned from wearing her chastity ring to express her Christian faith. The school banned the ring because they say its against their uniform policy, although they have religious exemptions for Islamic head scarves and Sikhism's steel bracelets.
However, the story gets worse. When Playfoot appealed to a court for a decision, they actually sided with the school and upheld their decision! This ruling "will mean that slowly, over time, people such as school governors, employers, political organizations and others will be allowed to stop Christians from publicly expressing and practicing their faith," said Playfoot, and I have to agree!
Paul Diamond, Playfoot's lawyer, remarked that secular authorities "lack capacity to rule on the correct manifestation of religious belief.", and again, duh!
If the government starts telling us as Christians what is and is not correct or neccesary for our religious faith, they can control every facet of our faith and effectively squelch the freedom that western democracy is
supposed to give its citizens. Many teenagers wear these chastity rings, ever since a movement to do so began in the United States over ten years ago.
I personally wore one all throughout my high school career, going to a public school, and am still wearing it. I will be wearing my ring until the day I get married. I haven't taken it off in four years, and would fight tooth-and-nail to keep it on. Whether Playfoot still wears hers to school, I don't know, but I know that I would. This is a gross enfringement upon religious freedom.
I'll be praying for Playfoot and Diamond as they continue this fight, as Playfoot intends to appeal. I will also pray for those misguided officials that have enforced and upheld this totalitarian policy.