Imagine having a football match between two teams that are not subject to the same rules. There have been instances in the past when famous players used a hand to stop the ball, but this was always in breach of existing regulations, even if it was not sanctioned as it should have been. But just imagine, actually having one team allowed to use their hands and the other not. There would be outrage and the game would render itself unplayable.

That is the impression I have of the sort of rules that Christianity is being subjected to in today’s society. Way back in 2004, I had expressed myself regarding the Buttiglione case, when he was not accepted as a EU Commissioner on the basis of his strong Catholic beliefs. Since then we have seen requests for crucifixes to be removed from schools in Italy as they were considered offensive to members of other faiths. Two recent incidents have again caught my attention and made me realise just how uneven the international religious playing field has become. The first, and most renowned of these incidents, was the overreaction and hysterical outbursts following the Pope’s academic reference to a medieval document. I shall not enter into the merits of that issue as it received attention enough, but I still feel that I needed to mention it to prepare the ground for the latest incident.

Last week, a British Airways employee was suspended for two weeks without pay for refusing to hide a small cross she was wearing around her neck. This came after Miss Eweida, a Coptic Christian (Copts are native Egyptian Christians who make up nine per cent of the Egyptian population, making them the largest Christian community in the Middle East), whose father is Egyptian and mother English, was ordered to remove her cross or hide it under a company cravat by a duty manager at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 last month. According to British Airways spokespersons, this action was taken because Ms Eweida was wearing jewellery. And this is where the different football rules analogy with which I launched this piece comes into play. For British Airways, a crucifix smaller than our 10c coin piece was considered to be unlawful jewellery, but they have given special permission for members of other faiths to wear expressions of their religion over their uniform. Let us compare like with like and not enter into the merits of allowing the Muslims the hijab, or the turbans (which British Airways allow). The discrimination is clearest when we compare the treatment of the Christian cross with the treatment of the Sikh bangles. For British Airways, the Christian cross is just a piece of jewellery, and therefore unlawful, while the Sikh bangle is an expression of faith and therefore allowable.

How has this ridiculous situation been allowed to happen? Had BA declared all jewellery as being unlawful, irrespective of its symbolic or representative value, that would have been acceptable. But discriminating against the cross in favour of bangles indicates that all is not well. Are all religions to be allowed to express themselves except Christianity? Has the religion that formed the cornerstone of the development of European and Western culture as we know it today become something to be discarded, ashamed of or hidden? And I ask myself, why? What is behind this ‘new’ modern mentality? Is it just new fangled attitudes on our part that have rendered our religion as seemingly old fashioned or is it indicative of a movement to undermine Christian values, traditions and beliefs?

Both are dangerous and perhaps it is time for each and every one of us to stand up and be counted for what we are, and not for what others would have us be! Christianity, in its widest definition, is a good thing, and we should not be ashamed to profess it. Indeed we should be proud of what we are. Let us not by our inaction, and apathy allow movements to take hold that would send us back centuries. Our catacombs are historical monuments of places where Christians used to practise their faith in secret to avoid persecution. We are hiding our beliefs within ourselves and in modern notions of our religion not having a place in a secular world, while other religions have no qualms about imposing themselves. Let us not allow this mentality to be the new catacomb!