The Sunday Telegraph is reporting that the case, which is being adjudicated at the European Court of Human Rights, is the first time the UK government was forced to take a position in the on-going war between active homosexuals and Christianity.
The case involves Nadia Eweida and Shirley Chaplin who claim that they were discriminated against when their employers barred them from wearing their crosses to work.
The case hinges on whether human rights laws protect their right to wear a cross under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
It states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
Eweida and Chaplin want the European Court to rule that this breached their human right to manifest their religion.
According to a document seen by the Telegraph, the UK ministers have decided to side against the women, saying that because the wearing of a cross is not a "requirement" of the Christian faith, employers can ban people from wearing it and fire those who disobey.
However, lawyers representing Eweida and Chaplin say that “manifesting” religion includes doing things that are not a “requirement of the faith,” and that they are therefore protected by human rights.
They also claim that Christians are given less protection than members of other religions who have been granted special status for garments or symbols such as the Sikh turban and kara bracelet, or the Muslim hijab.
The fact that the government will side against Christians has sparked outrage from many quarters. Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, accused government and the courts of “dictating” to Christians, saying it was just another example of Christianity becoming sidelined in official life.
“The reasoning is based on a wholly inappropriate judgment of matters of theology and worship about which they can claim no expertise," Lord Carey said. “The irony is that when governments and courts dictate to Christians that the cross is a matter of insignificance, it becomes an even more important symbol and expression of our faith.”
Andrea Williams, the director of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “It is extraordinary that a Conservative government should argue that the wearing of a cross is not a generally recognized practice of the Christian faith.
"In recent months the courts have refused to recognize the wearing of a cross, belief in marriage between a man and a woman and Sundays as a day of worship as ‘core’ expressions of the Christian faith."
She adds: "What next? Will our courts overrule the Ten Commandments?”
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
