3/4s of British Christians say anti-Christian discrimination is on the rise: poll
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| Distribution of Christianity (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Seventy-four percent of Christian Britons believe that discrimination against Christianity and Christian freedom of expression is on the rise in their country, according to a recent poll. This is a significant increase from 66 percent in 2009 according to an independent research group, ComRes.
The ComRes poll was taken in October 2011 and surveyed 544 practicing Christians across Britain from all age groups. It asked respondents if they thought that marginalization of Christians is increasing, decreasing or staying the same in key areas of public life. The results showed that 66 percent believe the marginalization of Christians is increasing in the government compared to 59 percent the year before. Sixty-one percent believe it is increasing in the workplace 71 percent of respondents perceive an increase in the marginalization of Christians in the media.
The poll was commissioned by Premier Christian Media Trust (PCMT), which is launching its report to the “Parliamentary Inquiry into Religious Discrimination on the Marginalisation of Christianity in British Public Life 2007 – 2011.”
The PCMT report will tell Parliamentarians that a significant number of Christians perceive a strong bias exists against Christians in favour of other religions and people of “a different sexual orientation,” in British public life.
The report, which combines multiple polls by ComRes, monitors both Christian opinion and that of the general public. It states that Christians and others believe that the marginalization of Christianity in public life is increasing and that this “is set to get worse in the future.”
There is “an inconsistency” in the way Christians and other groups are treated in the courts, particularly with regards the equality laws, it argues. And there is concern that these recently implemented laws create conflicts with existing Human Rights Legislation.
Peter Kerridge, CEO of the Premier Christian Trust said, “It seems Members of Parliament are finally willing to hear the Christian voice, which is being increasingly marginalized in British public life.”
Kerridge called for a “development of a civil culture in which everyone has a right to express their beliefs and opinions without fear of discrimination or prosecution.”
An Oxford theologian, Prof. Roger Trigg of Kellogg College, told media, “In recent years there has been a clear trend for courts in Europe and North America to prioritize equality and non-discrimination above religion, placing the right to religious freedom in danger.
“There should not be a hierarchy of rights, but it should be possible to take account of all of them in some way.”
Trigg, a member of the university’s faculties of Theology and Philosophy said that judges increasingly “curtail” the religious views of people in favor of other “social priorities.”
