mr president i welcome the opportunity to speak on a subject that is close to my heart
as an evangelical christian it has become apparent to me particularly over recent years that the expression of christian beliefs is largely deemed unacceptable in a society that wants us sanitised of any strongly held belief and where we must all believe the same or believe nothing
this attack on conviction is more aggressive towards christianity in certain quarters
this year we celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the king james bible yet today to express beliefs founded upon the contents of the bible is often deemed unlawful
we face a situation where christians are being excluded from certain professions because of their faith and hauled before courts because of their faith
in the united kingdom equality laws are being used more as a sword than a shield to punish expression of christian faith
this marginalisation of christianity was exemplified recently by the commission in the publication of their diary muslim hindu sikh jewish and chinese festivals were marked yet there was nothing about christian celebrations
i have no doubt that this was no accident no oversight and i find it deeply regrettable
i would call upon the vice-president high representative to address this in particular in her remarks
freedom of religious expression is a fundamental right in society that should be protected and this debate is but a small recognition of the problem
we should not shy away from it just because it is christians who are persecuted
