Posted on 07/17/2007 2:40:09 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
LONDON - A teenager whose teachers had stopped her wearing a purity ring at school to symbolize her commitment to virginity has lost a High Court fight against the ban.
Lydia Playfoot, 16, says her silver ring is an expression of her faith and had argued in court that it should be exempt from school regulations banning the wearing of jewelry.
I am very disappointed by the decision this morning by the High Court not to allow me to wear my purity ring to school as an expression of my Christian faith not to have sex outside marriage, Playfoot said in a statement Monday.
I believe that the judges decision will mean that slowly, over time, people such as school governors, employers, political organizations and others will be allowed to stop Christians from publicly expressing and practicing their faith.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
If the school rules state no jewelry, why then are teachers allowed to wear it and others allowed bracelets? Stupid Brits can never get anything right when it comes to Christians.
In that case they should obviously enforce is on everyone. I’m far more upset about that.
Where is the ACLU for this blatant infringement on this sweet child’s freedom? This is ridiculous, and if people sit still for it, we deserve what we are in for! Of course, I guess most people now resemble those characters in “St. Elmo’s Fire”, where sex before marriage and drugs are the norm, and keeping pure for your future husband is corny. No wonder God is removing his protection from this country!
Perhaps the liberals who want to give foreign terrorists U.S. Constitutional rights should now have us arrest the U.K. government for denying this girl hers.
The Sikh bracelet was deemed as something central to the Sikh religion. "Virginity rings" are not central to Christianity.
I guess freedom of religion isn’t part of life in the U.K. Here in the States, it’s one of our greatest treasures. We tend to get upset when the government curtails our rights. But that’s just us.
Virginity rings are not central to every Christian’s faith, but it is central to some. Should the government get to define every religion, and forbid those religions that don’t fit with their doctrine?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is a kirpan:
The rule at the school is NO JEWELRY. This applies to everyone!
Now, if they forbid her to wear her jewelry because it had a religious connotation and everyone else could where jewelry, then THAT would be discrimination.
I do wonder, however, if a muslim would be held to the same compliance??
The ACLU is in America where there is a Constitutional right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression. This girl is in the UK, which has a state religion, the Church of England. As the official arbiter of what is and isn't Christian in the UK, the C of E could have declared this girls' ring to be a fundamental aspect of her religion, but it didn't. In the UK, this girl and her family don't have the right to define how they practice Christianity.
After all the caterwauling about a Hindu prayer in the Senate last week, I thought a lot of people here were ready to have a state-sponsored church in this country. In the US, there are several civil-rights-oriented legal organizations (and yes, the ACLU is one of them) that might have fought for this girl's right to wear her ring, but there is no such right in the UK.
Yes, that’s what it was “deemed”, however you can’t blame the girl for going against school policy, before that, when it is allowed for others.
No, it shouldn't, but I'm saying that as an American. In the UK, there is a state religion. In America there isn't and I wish more people would get a clue as to why that's a good thing.
Sure I can. The policy forbids jewelry and only makes exceptions for items that are central to a religious practice. In the UK you don't get to put "deemed" in scare quotes when it comes to defining Christianity. They have a state church, the Church of England.
According the article, no. Muslims and Sikhs can wear there religious jewelry.
By the calendar, she’s just a girl. But the reality is, that’s a fine woman right there with a wisdom beyond her years.
Her Majesty Government should hope for 100,000 just like her.
She has done a lot more than show the ring. Good fight. She carried a lot more influence and media going to the High Court than she would have if they had just let her wear the ring to school. God chuckles.
If she were married should she be forced to remove her wedding band?
I can tell you this much. The reason it's a good thing isn't just because that's the way it happens to be. And just because the UK denies Christians the right to practice their religion doesn't mean that is a good thing either.
Not entirely right, The Church of England is a Protestant Church, their rules do not apply to all forms of Christianity. The Catholics in England do not regard The Queen as head of their church.
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