Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Interview Rick About Nadia

British Airways check-in worker Nadia Eweida wants to wear a cross necklace in public while at work, which has stirred controversy in England.

What are your views? What questions does Nadia's struggle raise? What questions does the response of secularists or others raise?

So, Ask Rick.

If you'd like to put together 5-10 questions (or 1 or 2), please send them to Pro-Existence via the comment section below. Or send emails to pearcey@pearceyreport.com.

Secularists: Cross-Wearing “Conniving Religious Propagandist” at British Airways Not Persecuted

By Rick Pearcey

England’s National Secular Society (NSS) has published an editorial alert: “Christian Bullies Press Their Advantage.”

Chief among the bullies is 55-year-old Nadia Eweida, by day a veteran check-in employee in good standing with British Airways, but by night, the vanguard of a “new breed of Christian activists in Britain.”

She wants to wear a cross necklace to work, in full view of passengers.

The airline said no -- that it violates their dress code and may offend customers -- but is now reconsidering after British public opinion, politicians, church leaders, and Christian groups sided with Nadia, not with the airline.

The NSS wants people to know that Nadia is not being persecuted at British Airways.

After all, Nadia is:

Anything But Defenseless: “Through a relentless process of lies, misrepresentation, exaggeration and dissembling,” Christian activists “have managed to convince the country that a simple health and safety rule is, in fact, a persecutory attack on a poor, defenceless Christian lady. She is no such thing.”

Conniver: “She is a conniving religious propagandist who puts the promotion of her ‘faith’ before any other consideration.”

Insecure: “If Ms Eweida is true to her faith, then she does not have to make a big show of it. She should be secure enough to know that her cross is there underneath her uniform. But no – she wants to ‘tell people about Jesus.’”

Selfish: “Instead, we get this selfish woman insisting that she and she alone must have the right to break the health and safety rules. That her religion is more important than anything else.”

Ungrateful: “BA has fallen over itself to be fair to Ms Eweida. They have offered her another job away from the front line where she can wear her cross in whatever way she likes, but she won’t take it because she wants to make a point. She wants to present herself as a religious martyr.”

Religion-Shover: “She is a religious activist trying to shove her religion down everyone’s throats.”

There’s nothing like having the National SS around to protect the liberties of England from the dangers of Nadiaism.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.