'They're really just wanting to censor the message of the cross'

The Christian Legal Centre’s Roger Kiska speaks to Premier Radio about the case of an NHS theatre practitioner who was ‘treated like a criminal’ and eventually suspended for wearing a cross.

Explaining why Mary Onuoha has a right to wear a Christian cross, he said:

“The position of the Christian Legal Centre is that this is clearly animus towards the cross. It’s not a health and safety issue. She wears lanyards in the theatre all the time that can be pulled off or used to choke. So, we think this is clearly a breach of her religious freedom and the right to manifest her faith through the wearing of a cross.

“One of the things that the European Court has said in a similar British Airways case is that it’s really not a manifestation of what a doctrinal belief might be for a given denomination, but it’s a personal belief. And if it’s serious and cogent and if Mary has her own deeply held reasons for wanting to wear the cross as a manifestation of her faith, the law protects that. So, if it’s really a health and safety issue, they’re giving mixed messages here, it seems that they’re really just wanting to censor the message of the cross.”