Britain’s multi-sided attacks on Christianity are astonishing, says The Record’s Guy Crouchback.
By Guy Crouchback
A favourite expression of communist political writing was that some set of facts or other was “no coincidence,” implying that there was more to matters than met the eye.
In a string of incidents in Britain Christians have been discriminated against in various ways – for wearing crucifix brooches or necklaces at work or school, in the case of one nurse being sacked for offering to pray for a patient, and so forth. A school-girl was recently banned from wearing a small crucifix on a necklace while Sikh girls at the same school were permitted to wear religious bangles.
There is the new Equality Bill now before Parliament whose provisions could compel religious institutions such as care-homes, hospitals and schools to remove crosses, holy pictures, icons and other signs from the walls if employees not of their belief – and who they are compelled not to discriminate against in hiring – object. This seems most directly aimed at Catholic institutions which tend to display such signs but could also be applied against others. A crematorium has been forced to remove a cross from its chapel.
Here the “no coincidence” thought raises its head. While government and Qango initiatives seem directed at attacking expressions of Christianity or Judeo/Christianity, pagan police officers in Britain have been given the right to take eight days off work a year to celebrate pagan “religious holidays” including Hallowe’en and the summer solstice. This follows the setting up of a new “Pagan Police Association.”
Pc Andy Pardy, a leading pagan officer from Hertfordshire Police, met recently with Home Office officials to push for more recognition for pagan officers. He is reported to worship Viking gods such as Thor and Freya, and is quoted as saying: “Paganism involves chanting, music, meditation, reading passages and for pagans the practices are seen to have the same power as prayer does for Christians. Most pagans practice some kind of conservation work as well to give something back to the planet.”
A spokesman for the Home Office is quoted as saying: “The Government wants a police service that reflects the diverse communities it serves.” Another officer, Pc Andy Hill of Staffordshire Police, is a practising witch.
Last year the Home Office introduced a pagan oath for use in the courts, though it is a little hard to see at first glance what sort of oath would be acceptable both to a pagan who followed, say, the gentle Greek philosopher Socrates and one who followed the Viking rape and pillage specialist Erik Bloodaxe.
A leading think-tank close to the government, the Institute for Public Policy Research, has recommended that Christmas, if it cannot be obliterated, should be down-graded to promote multiculturalism. It says that because it would be hard to “expunge” Christmas from the national calendar (although this would apparently be desirable), public organisations must be made to give non-Christian religious festivals equal footing. This would fit in with Pagan Police at the Solstice very neatly. They might even be able to do a bit of policing of Christianity while there.
A Tower Hamlets school-teacher, Nicholas Kafouris, was recently reported sacked for reprimanding Muslim pupils for anti-Christian and anti-Jewish behaviour. He said children aged eight and nine in his class praised the suicide bombers in the 9/11 attacks.
He said many unacceptable and openly racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Christian remarks were being made, including: “We want to be Islamic bombers when we grow up”, “the Twin Towers bombers are heroes and martyrs”, “we hate the Jews” and “we hate the Christians”.
During a religious education lesson about Jonah and the whale, he claims one of the pupils asked if Jonah was a Jew, before shouting: “I hate the Jews, they’re our enemies.” He said reports to school authorities were ignored.
A church in Stockport, Manchester, was charged by the local council for advertising when it displayed a three-foot illuminated cross above the entrance. The Red Cross has banned Nativity scenes and Christmas trees from its shops, and banned Christian messages on cards its employees send out. A spokesman said: “In shops people can put up decorations like tinsel or snow which are seasonal. But the guidance is that things representative of Christmas cannot be shown.”
It was reported that schools across Britain were ordered by local authorities to abandon the ancient tradition of serving hot cross buns at Easter. We have seen, not so much directly from elected politicians as from a multitude of unelected bodies and institutions, an unprecedented effort to alter the actual psychology of the people of Britain and turn it into a completely different country.