UK Dispute Over Religious Jewelry

LifeSiteNews reported yesterday about a 16-year-old girl who was suspended from school for wearing a cross necklace and refusing to remove it.

I used to work at a place, and my boss was Jewish. She had married a non-Jewish man and they had a daughter, but just before she came to work there, her marriage ended in divorce. As she recovered from the divorce, she turned to her faith, returned to the synagogue, and eventually met a faithful Jewish man. They were later married in a beautiful ceremony that I was privileged to attend.

At this same company, another one of the managers was Catholic. He went to mass every week and sent his daughters to the main Catholic high school in his area. One day, while I was doing my Bible study homework at my desk at lunchtime, this manager stopped and asked what I was reading. When he saw the open Bible, he said, "Oh!" as though I were handling toxic material, and he backed away and left without another word.

Although by official reckoning, I should have more in common with the Catholic man, since he and I both claim Christ as our Savior. But I felt more in tune with my boss, because she and I had hearts for God, even though we disagreed about who Jesus is.

This article about the girl who was suspended for wearing her cross to school reminds me of my old boss and the manager.

The UK is officially Christian, with Anglicanism as the official religion. And yet the Christian girl's staunchest supporter appears to be a Sikh minister. Sikhs are permitted to wear a kara (a religious steel bracelet) to school because their religion requires the wearing of it. But Deputy head teacher Howard Jones of Sinfin Community School in Derby spent three hours trying to convince the girl to remove her cross before he suspended her.

Jones explained that the Sikh religious articles are permitted because Sikh faith requires them. "We are very comfortable with our policy and believe we are being even-handed and fair. Christianity does not require followers to wear a specific symbol."

However, the Minister of Divinity of Sikh Dharma who contacted LifeSiteNews.com explained that the action of the school against Morris was the "height of wrongful discrimination" since "I hold her commitment to wear her crucifix sacred in the same way that I choose to uphold my commitment to wear my kara each day." Minister Khala continued, "Ultimately, these kinds of outward reminders are symbols of our constant striving to remember God in all that we do. I ardently pray that this school may learn to appreciate and give encouragement to students who have learned the value of commitment in their lives."

This Sikh minister is a man of faith who, as a non-Judeo-Christian, understands more about faithful Christians than does an officially Anglican teacher. It is his heart for God that I admire, as well as his willingness to speak out on behalf of someone of another faith.