Read: Mark 5: 25-34, Mathew 8: 1-4
Is
faith and its expression purely personal or can one express faith and symbols
of our faith in one's own peculiar way, in our public and work domain?. This is
the issue being debated in the case of a judgment that European Court has ruled
in favor of a British Airways employee Nadia Eweida. The events that led to a
national and international debate happened in 2006 when Nadia Eweida was
working with British Airways as a check in clerk. One day while she was working
she was asked to go home because she refused to remove a necklace that
bore a Christian cross. According to British Airways, wearing of religious
symbols like cross violated the airlines dress code. Eweida was asked to remove
the cross or put it under her cravat, both which she blatantly refused. This
forced the airlines to sack her and sent her home. This action of British
Airways created a national debate in England over the issue of the expression
of religion in public life. Eweida decided to sue British Airways for religious
discrimination seeking damages and compensation for lost wages. But the British
courts backed British Airways and Eweida lost her case. But she appealed to the
European Courts of Human Rights. Last Tuesday at Strasbourg, France, the court
ruled in favour of Eweida stating that the action and the policy of British
Airways amounted an interference with her right to manifest her religion.
The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights is binding on its 47 members
of the Council of Europe, which is the continents human rights watch dog. But
the same court ruled against another nurse Shirley Chaplin who also wanted to
wear the cross, but the court stated that since Chaplin's employer banned
necklace on health and safety grounds, she also could not wear any necklace
with or without cross. With the court ruling in favor of Eweida, the debate and
discussion that is being sparked off is what would be the repercussion of this
court ruling in terms of how people of different religious faith are going to express
their religion and religious symbols especially in work place and how
relevant is the expression of one's faith and religious expression in the
public domain?
In the Gospel of Mark 5: 25-34, we find an
encounter and healing of a unique kind. A woman has an issue of blood for more
than 12 years and she seeks help of many but instead of being healed her pain
and suffering only increases. It is in such a situation that she realizes the
presence of Jesus in a crowd. Quietly and silently she comes near Jesus
Christ and she has this faith that if she is able to touch the cloak of Jesus
Christ, she would be healed. The woman with this perspective of faith comes
forward and touches the cloak of Jesus Christ and lo she is healed from her
disease. When healing takes plea Jesus knew that power had gone from him and
she addresses the crowd to inquire as to who touched him. Since there was a
huge crowd following Jesus Christ, the disciples and others brushes aside this
question of Jesus very lightly but Jesus become more authoritative and inquires
as to who touched him. That is when the woman shaking with fear and also
embarrassment comes forward and declares her faith and how she was
healed. Here we find Jesus deliberately asking a woman to come forward and
declare the wonderful works of God. Here what is emphasized was not the healing
that the Jesus did, but the emphasis on an individual to come forward and
witness to a community the work of God. There is also another instance when
Jesus heals a leper [ Mathew 8]. After Jesus heals the leper, he advises the
leper is not to disclose this healing to anyone but only to show himself to the
priest. The action of Jesus Christ in his encounter with the woman with
the issue of blood and the leper teaches us are entirely different in the way
Jesus responds to their healing and thus helps us to understand some
wonderful truths that the Lord want to teach us with regards to the expression
of our faith in our community or in a public domain. When Jesus forces the
woman to come forward and witness to the healing that takes place, I believe it
is a pointer that wherever we are placed if time and opportunity arises
one should not shirk away from ones responsibility of affirming our faith in
the Lord and also the way our Lord has brought about change and transformation
in our life. But then many of us think that being a witness or expression of
our faith is something that we can do irrespective of where we are and what we
are doing. That is why when Jesus healed the leper he asked him to be quiet but
to express his healing and faith to the priest so that they would know
that he is cleansed. Expression of faith and witness at times also requires
some prudence where we may have to "silent". Here silence is not to keep
quiet about our faith and witness but the Lord teaching us that we should also
know how to express our faith and witness our faith in the most appropriate
manner taking into consideration the context and the times. Thus
expression of faith is not just wearing of symbols or repeatedly telling others
what God has done in our life, but creative expression and affirmation of our
faith in our public domain in the most appropriate and prudent way so that we
truly communicate the message of the gospel rather than being seen as a
religious nut.