The veil and the cross.

A classroom assistant has been suspended from Headfield Church of England Junior School because she refused to remove her veil in class and it was impairing the children's understanding of her during English lessons. They have said that she may wear it in the staffroom and corridors, but must remove it when teaching in class. She claims that this infringes her civil rights.

On the same day, it is reported that a British Airways has asked a Christian member of staff to conceal her cross necklace because it contravenes the company's uniform policy. They do not wish members of staff to wear religious items visibly. Sikh and female Muslim members of staff are exempt from this as it is unrealistic to expect that the hijab or turban may be worn under other clothing.

Religion is becoming politicised in a country where, on the mainland, traditionally, politics and religion has been separated. Those of us 'over here' regard the Northern Ireland problem, massive as it has been, as political rather than religious. And, on the whole, we actively dissociate ourselves from it. While we do not have the French attitude of the rigid detachment of religion from the state, we have been more gently secular. In a country where the division between Catholicism and Protestantism made for a sticky couple of centuries and caused the death of many, we are sensitive about religious choice, and it is a widely held tenet that a person's religion is their own affair. (Thanks, Henry VIII, for the whole new religion thing. Never has a man's desire to rid himself of a wife caused so much death and destruction...)

But the secular Britain where I went to school in the 70s is becoming a distant memory. Religion was gentle in my day. It was the quiet, unassuming children who took to religion. On the BBC message board relating to the veil incident there are many British Muslims commenting on the fact that in their day it waas almost unheard of that a girl would wear a hijab, let alone a burqa or a veil, but now when they pass schools it is a common sight. In the 70s such a girl would have been regarded as retrogressive and oppressed; now she's radical in claiming her civil right to wear these items. This has all happened since 9/11. As Islam becomes the subject of ever more attack, the young, threatened Muslim community turns inward and battens down the hatches. You don't have to be an expert in sociology to work out cause and effect. Then, as Muslims demand, and are granted, more religious right, the Christian community, the most well-rooted religion in this country, itself feels threatened, and percieves its own oppression. Watch this space for some fanatical Christian acts. As an unscientific alert, I had never met a Creationist until about 5 years ago, and now they seem to be cropping up all over the place. There's that old film about the teacher being tried for teaching that evolution was the truth - I looked at that as a period piece, historical whimsy, something we could all look at and congratulate ourselves in how far we'd come. But no. It appears that the debate is still alive. More so in the US than here, but it's growing in these isles. Interestingly, in the name of religion, the archaic is being embraced as revolutionary. As a human trajectory it makes for a depressing commentary.

I don't really have any answers, because in a country where religious tolerance has been one of the hallmarks of our civilisation, it would be difficult to put the brakes on and adopt the French model. However, now that Muslim girls are having their hijabs and veils ripped off in the street to the accompaniment of verbal or even physical abuse from idiotic bigots, something really has to be done. No one can be more concerned about this than our country's religious leaders, and I hope (and would pray if I were that way inclined) that they are working together to avert the gathering storm.