Do we really have a right to express our religion?

“It is insulting, humiliating and degrading. My Christian faith isn’t something that you put on and then take off to go to work,” says Mrs. Chaplin, who felt pressured to move job as being in the NHS did not allow her to wear her cross. (The Telegraph, Sept 2012).

Everyone should have the opportunity and feel free to express their religion without feeling oppressed in the public eye or in the workplace.   The idea that British citizens are not free to express their faith in the workplace is an extraordinary and oppressive interpretation of the law.

Not only are people being oppressed in the workplace, but in everyday life, as France have introduced a new law banning Muslim women from wearing the veil (religious face covering) in public.

"My life has become a living hell since April. I have been verbally and physically abused. I no longer have access to public services. Every day I have to fight for my basic rights." Ms Ahmas feels like a prisoner ever since the new French law came into place banning the veil. (BBC)
This law was put into place in April 2011, and since then there have been many controversies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13031397

Security reasons were cited as one of the government's motivations for the ban. The inability to see one's face in public, according to some lawmakers, compromises security and is a just reason for outlawing a religious practice that is sacred to many Muslims. In the equality argument difference Feminists would argue that women should in fact have the right to express themselves, however other feminists would argue that a headscarf ban is necessary to protect girls from an overly oppressive religious regime.

Although there is a security risk, the proportion of women who wear the veil who commit crimes is minute. People should have the right to express their religion and themselves, whether it be with wearing a cross or wearing a veil, simply because it defines who they are. They should be able to do this without feeling threatened by abuse and by being punished.

This isn’t the first time religion has been under threat. During a more tolerant period towards religion from 1941 until the late 1950s in the Soviet Union, the church grew in stature and membership. This provoked concern by the Soviet government which decided in the late 1950s to undertake a new campaign to suppress religion in order to achieve the atheist society that communism intended. In 1964 the government changed and the anti-religious campaign was questioned as it wasn’t producing the desired results and it was greatly reduced in intensity in the following years.

 We both believe that religion is a part of an individual and they should be able to express it how they wish. Britain wants to be diverse and is becoming more multi-cultural, we need to become more accepting of different religious beliefs.

Zawn & Maria