Backlash Causes Airline to 'Back Peddle' on Decision re: Employee's Wearing of Cross

Backlash Causes Airline to 'Back Peddle' on Decision re: Employee's Wearing of Cross

By Pat Centner

(AgapePress) - British Airways (BA) recently announced that it would again review its dress code policy after initially ruling that one of its employees could not wear a cross to work because it violated the dress code.

Back in October, Nadia Eweida, a check-in worker, was told that she would have to either remove her cross or hide it beneath a scarf. Eweida, a Coptic Christian, refused and was ultimately sent home. She was also placed on unpaid leave.

In comments to The Daily Mail, Eweida maintained that BA only discriminates against Christians in the wearing of religious items. "British Airways permits Muslims to wear a headscarf, Sikhs to wear a turban, and other faiths religious apparel," she said. "I will not hide my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

Eweida filed an appeal with the airline, but lost. She was once again told that she could not wear a cross that was fully visible to others. Eweida's plight soon became public, and British Airlines experienced a backlash of gigantic proportions. Statements and articles declaring religious discrimination were lodged by Christians and clergy worldwide. According to VirtueOnline, even the British Parliament became involved as close to 100 members protested on behalf of Eweida.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, responded to the airline's decision by reiterating a statement he had made early in the Eweida controversy that it is "absolutely basic that people of any faith should have the right to display the signs of their faith commitment in public." He elaborated further, said Christian Today, by expressing confusion at the airline's decision, saying he couldn't discern whether they were simply talking about "regulations," or whether they were claiming that the cross itself is a source of offense.

"Now if BA is really saying or implying that the wearing of a cross in public is a source of offense," the archbishop said, "then I regard that as deeply offensive .... If they're saying that it's to do with matters of health and safety, ... I would ask them to look very seriously at this, given the enormous reaction of dismay that's been caused in the Christian community."

This controversy has sparked great interest by Christians worldwide, who are encountering ever-increasing religious persecution. Faith McDonnell of the Institute on Religion and Democracy was right on target when she expressed the importance that wearing a cross holds, in particular for Christians living in non-Western countries who are willing to be publicly identified as followers of Christ in spite of persecution and death.

The symbolism of wearing the cross, said McDonnell, "is not a fashion statement; it is a faith statement."

Pat Centner, an occasional contributor to AgapePress, is a former staff writer for AFA Journal, a publication of the American Family Association.

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