"This is an intervention, presented by Barbara Vittucci, on behalf of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians, an organization that monitors and documents such cases in Europe (www.IntoleranceAgainstChristians.eu). Increasingly Christians report to us that they are being discriminated against or treated in an intolerant manner or that they become victims of hate crimes, East and West of Vienna..."
"In the context of working with individuals and the related social issues regarding growing occurrences of discrimination against Christians, we also observe legislative developments. What seems to be advancement in one area of Human Rights sometimes can backfire in another. We have identified four problematic areas with regard to freedom of religion, when looking at the rights of Christians..."
The general public think a strong bias exists against Christians in British public life and that this is set to increase in the future. According to a ComRes poll, commissioned by Premier Christian Media in May 2010, across all four areas of public life (in public, in the media, in the Government and in the workplace) on average, approximately a third of respondents thought the marginalisation of Christians in public life is increasing.
The majority of Christians had not directly experienced victimisation, finds Premier Christian Media's polling. 12% of the "Freedom of the Cross" respondents had directly experienced it. In fact, the majority of respondents had either known of a close contact (a friend or a family member) that had been marginalised.
Both Christians and non-Christians believe religious freedom constitutes an important part of the British identity; consequently the majority of the British public believe people should have the right to wear religious symbols in the workplace if they wish to. In fact, 4 out of 5 respondents (81%), in a public opinion poll conducted in April 2010, agreed that “people have a right to wear and show a cross at work if they want to, whatever their job.”
French Governmental Services of Classified Information (les Renseignements Généraux) and the Police Department released that the number of vandalism acts towards Christian places of worship amount to 389, an increase of 40% compared to the 2008 figures.
A significant number of Christians perceive a strong bias exists against Christians, in favour of other groups i.e. other religions and those of a different sexual orientation. This bias occurs in all areas of public life including Government, the media and in the Courts’ application/ interpretation of equalities and anti-discrimination legislation. For example, in a C-Panel poll, conducted in November 2009, two thirds of Christians (66%) believed there was more negative discrimination against Christians than people of other faiths.
"Protect freedom of speech by abandoning its opposition to the free speech protection clause currently within the sexual orientation hatred offence which preserves the right to, discuss, criticise and urge to refrain from certain forms of sexual conduct or practices.”