Removing the velvet glove

When you wish to know where you are headed, it is good to observe someone who is further down the road than you. From what I read of England, they are a few kilometers down the motorway from the United States.

Julian Brazier of the House of Commons recently urged the leader of the House as follows:

"On the last day of term, may I appeal for a debate during the forthcoming term on prejudice against Christians in a growing proportion of the public services? On top of a string of incidents involving health service and local authority workers being penalized for offering to pray for people, for saying 'God bless' to them and so on, the worst case of all must be that of the foster mother who had fostered a large number of children in care and provided a loving home for them, but who lost her job, and with it her house, because a 16-year-old girl she was fostering chose to convert to Christianity. . . ."

The teenager (whose name is being withheld, along with the foster mother's, for legal reasons) was from a Muslim family. In 2007 the foster mother was asked to take her in, as the girl had been assaulted by a family member. The accused woman is reported to be "devastated" by the turn of events. Her claim that she had put no pressure on the girl to become a Christian was met with no sympathy by council authorities, who allege she failed to "respect and preserve" her ward's faith.

The Christian Institute has stepped in to fund the foster mom's defense. Its spokesman Mike Judge said, "This is the sort of double standard which Christians are facing in modern Britain. In recent months, we have seen grandparents, a nurse, adoption agencies, firemen, registrars, elderly care homes, and now a foster carer being punished because of the Christian beliefs they hold. . . ."

Hold on to your hat. We are in for quite a ride.

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