Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[TEXT ON SCREEN: Are we becoming less tolerant of people wearing religious symbols?]
SPEAKER 1:
When Christianity first entered Europe in 380 AD, the religion was homogeneous until the Great Schism of 1053. In the wake of the split, persecution between the opposing Catholic and Orthodox churches began.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
During this, Christians have been pushing back against the rising influence of Islam in Europe. In the Islamic world, Caliph Umar required Christians and Muslims to dress differently so they could be discerned from each other.
SPEAKER 2:
In today's globalised society, we've become familiar with many religious symbols, so it's not abnormal for a person to meet someone wearing various external symbols like a hijab, another wearing a cross, a kippah, a kara and a turban all in one lifetime.
SPEAKER 3:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thoughts, conscience, and belief, and they have the right to manifest their belief in observance, in teaching, in worship, and in practice. But what exactly does that mean? Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights defends a person's right to hold a belief, but the question of manifestation is not absolute.
SPEAKER 1:
Shirley Chaplin was a NHS nurse who had been wearing the crucifix on duty for 30 years. In 2010, she was asked to remove it. She then took the incident to court as a violation to her rights of religious expression. She lost her case against the European Court of Human Rights, and the Court ruled that her rights had not been violated under the ECHR.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[TEXT ON SCREEN:Shirley Chaplin lost her case against the European Court of Human Rights. The court ruled that her rights had not been violated under the ECHR.]
[TEXT ON SCREEN: Who decides what religious symbols and expressions are acceptable?]
SPEAKER 4:
One time my mom was telling me a story about how she was racially abused in a car park because she was wearing a sari.
SPEAKER 5:
I was called towel-head because of my Sikh turban at the last school I attended.
SPEAKER 6:
I was discriminated against by the head teacher of the school I was working in simply because I wore my hijab.
SPEAKER 7:
The school I had attended had discriminated against me due to my religion, and it had reached the extent of the IRU at MEND Islamophobia Response Unit becoming involved.
SPEAKER 8:
During a job interview, I was advised not to wear my hijab, and the Muslims who were currently working there had taken their hijabs off during their working hours in order to keep their jobs. After their shift, they'd put the hijab back on.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[TEXT ON SCREEN: How would you feel if you had experienced any religious discrimination. What would you do about it?]