Cross row stokes Christian anger

again, maybe its just because i dont really have religious convictions anymore (not sure i ever did) but things like this always seem to be blown out of proportion. many companies have rules against public displays of religion. any religion. if youre not willing to give that up, than tough luck, find a different place of employment. if theres a no visible jewelry rule, then it doesnt matter if the pendant is a cross, star of david, or a heart, its not allowed.
i just dont understand how your faith is determined by your physical appearance. its your personal relationship with god, what you wear or eat cant change that. these places arent telling you you cant believe in what you believe, their just asking that you keep it personal, you dont need to display it to the entire world for it to be true.
i remember watching a video in high school, i think it was from the 70s or 80s, where a man in canada wanted to be a boxer. they told him he had to shave his beard (forget what religion he was) and he wouldnt do it, so he claimed they were discriminating him because of his religion. but the fact was, no boxers were allowed to have beards. its a safety issue, it hides any blood on your face so you could be seriously injured if the refs couldnt see it. rules are there for a reason, and to protect everyone. they cant have seperate rules for each religion.
 
Roka, that's the point I was trying to make- you phrased it perfectly in one sentence :) it's about religious obligation. Nowhere in the Bible does it say "Thou shalt wear a cross necklace every day lest God smite you down!"
 
:) Exactly, ziggystarduzt, that's the difference between the Cross and the headscarf, it isn't an obligation, its an extra - like wearing an "Allah" pendant or a Quran pendant on your necklace is for Muslims.
DaWacko, do you get my point now? They may ban all religious symbols, but by banning a Muslim from wearing the hijab (head scarf) you're basically telling her she can;t be a Muslim, because it's one of the main foundations Islam is based on. I don't know if that makes any sense to you guys.
 
detectdevotion said:
I say the real issue is that she was out of dresscode, not that she was wearing a religious symbol. If the policy says no jewelry, then she should respect that. I don't believe her employers were trying to tell her she can not or should not practice her religion of choice. Although the punishment was a little harsh...
Click to expand...

Totally agreed on all points except the last. Any job I've ever had, if I insisted upon continuously defying the company's stated uniform dress code, I'd expect to be unceremoniously fired, not simply placed on unpaid leave. And if my personal beliefs demanded that I wear such a piece of jewelry or anything else visibly, I'd have looked for a different job.

If she wants the world to be aware of her Christian beliefs, I would humbly suggest that she place less importance upon an inanimate object and more upon conducting her life in a manner inspired by Jesus Christ. When you act in a way inspired by genuine faith, whatever that faith may be, people notice, and they are affected by it.

But then, maybe wearing a necklace is easier than taking that extra moment of patience with a cantankerous passenger or forgiving a thoughtless remark by a pilot...::shrugs::
 
Ok, I think all these points have basically been covered, but we were talking about this is Legal Studies the other day when we were talking about discrinimation. Because of the legislation in Aus, no-one is allowed to be discriminated because of religion (among other things), muslims in schools are allowed to wear the hijab, and even schools with a no-jewellery policy usually allow a religious symbol (such as the cross or a Star of David) to be worn.

We were talking about how them allowing Muslim women to wear the hijab but not allowing Christian women to wear the cross just because the cross is jewellery and can be hidden while a hijab cannot be is basically a form of religious discrimination.

Now, I know that that isn't really the point that everyone is talking about, and that most of these points have been covered, and this isn't my opinion, its jsut what we talked about in class.
 
Well, I guess you can look at it that way, but you're not telling them to not be Christians if they cannot wear a Cross... I think until you ban them from going to Church or celebrating Easter or Christmas or reading the Bible, it isn't really "discrimination" as much as it is "don't wear any jewelery". If they allowed you to wear jewelery but banned the Cross or the Star of David then that would be discrimination if they allowed one to be presented but not the other.
 
The woman in the article in my original post is now going to sue BA in this row over her cross necklace:

A Heathrow Airport employee has said she plans to sue British Airways for religious discrimination in a row over the wearing of a cross necklace.

Check-in worker Nadia Eweida, 55, of Twickenham, said she was effectively "forced" to take unpaid leave after refusing to conceal the symbol.

BA denied it had banned the wearing of crosses.

It said its uniform policy stated that such items could be worn if concealed underneath the uniform.
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From BBC.co.uk
Rest of article here :)
 
:eek: Such perfect timing for an issue like this.
I didn't even know bangles were an essential part of religion, I thought you could just wear it to show your belief? :confused:
 
Yeah I know it seems lame, like the article wibble posted mentioned, it's not like its the government, they should be able to wear what they want. But that's dress codes for you, and even though it takes away some of your freedom, can you imagine being in Saudi, for example, and being forced to wear the head-scarf even though you're a Christian? That's the dress code there too - and even though it sucks thats how things are.

This world needs to be reformed. I'll run for president.
 
if i went to saudi arabia, i fully understand if they want me to wear a head scarf, its their rules and i have to accept them. its not taking away any right of mine, if i didnt want to wear the head scarf i wouldnt go to saudi arabia.
same thing when i was in france a few years ago, you couldnt go into the old cathedrals if you were female with bare shoulders. it was summer and i had a tank top on one day, so i didnt go inside. but when we went to monaco i remembered a cardigan and was able to go inside their cathedral
 
You would wear the head scarf and bear with the consequence of having to leave everything you're doing 5 times a day during prayer time? Even if you just got into your shop and set things up and its prayer time, knowing you'd have to put everything away and come back in 30 minutes, only to put everything away an hour later and do the same thing over again?
See the joys of democracy exist in knowing that you're in a secular nation where state and religion are separated... that doesn't mean you can't practice your religion freely does it? Meaning that if you live in, say, Britain, you expect that you will not be governed by the Church, but that doesn't mean you cannot go to Church or the mosque or the synagogue, Buddhist temple...etc, right? Practicing your religion freely is supposed to be aright everyone has, not one that has limits. When you force your religion on others, that's when it goes wrong, but if you're innocently practicing your religions, who has the right to stop you from it? Isn't that what's happening in Saudi Arabia? Funny enough, it's also happening in Britain now. Blair has made claims that women wearing the full veil should take it off. Now I'm Muslim and my sisters do no wear the veil or anything... but I do know that it is part of Islamic beliefs, and if you choose to wear it, it is because you got that idea from your religion right? ANd if you really are free to practice your religion - AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT HURT ANYONE IN THE PROCESS - then why are there bans on things like that.

I feel for the Christian woman's concerns, but at the same time you have to remember that she can still be a practicing Christian without having to wear her Cross. But can you say the same about her?
 
I do not think this is a religous issue, more of a dress code issue as has been said before. If they start banning people the Cross and not some other form of necklace or something else, that is when it gets difficult.
 
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