Some Bishops stand up for the rights of Christians

It has long been recognised that Christianity has been targeted for marginalisation in the UK, especially by the ruling Labour Party, and so it is good to see that a group of Anglican Bishops have come out in support of Shirley Chaplin who is currently being ordered by her National Health Trust employers to hide or remove the cross which she has worn on a necklace for more than forty years.

There are some who still fail to see that Christians are being persecuted and discriminated against in the UK, yet here, once again, is further proof of the unacceptable situation. Apparently the NHS Trust concerned is quite happy to allow exemptions to the uniform policy which it is applying in this case, such as allowing Muslim women to wear headscarves, recognising that it is a display of their faith. What this screams out is that it's fine for other faiths to display symbols of their faith, but not for Christians to do so.

Of course, the Muslim community are constantly being wooed by politicians because of the huge voting power they represent. Why don't Christians start to let their MPs understand that they are offended to the point of withholding their vote unless matters change. In the forthcoming election there will be many candidates standing for the Christian Party, and they will offer an alternative to the corruption of those of the current Party's candidates who seek election in order to feather their nests at the taxpayer's expense, just as so many have been doing for so long.

So I applaud those Bishops who have put their signatures to the letter calling for the rights of Christians to be protected. Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, is a man of great faith who is never prepared to accept the side-lining of Christianity, has consistently voiced his opposition to the various attempts of this government to marginalise Christians and Christianity in this country. Now other voices join his stance by putting their names to a letter about Mrs Chapman's case. They are the ex-Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey; Rt Reverend Michael Scott-Joynt (Winchester); Peter Forster, Chester; Jonathan Gledhill, Lichfield; Nicholas Reade, Blackburn; Anthony Priddle, Hereford, and the former Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali.

The current Archbishop of Canterbury, the liberal theologian Dr Rowan Williams, is notable for his silence and absence.

The fact that there are not scores more adding their weight to the argument speaks sadly of the state of the church in the UK today. Perhaps it also goes a long way towards explaining just why the government continues to appease the Muslim Community whilst marginalising the christian Community.