Fed-Up Parents Hit Public School System With Lawsuit Over Controversial Islam Assignment That Led to Failing Grades for Daughter

By Kathryn Blackhurst

A former Marine and his wife filed a federal lawsuit against a Maryland school district Wednesday for forcing their daughter to complete homework assignments that allegedly endorsed Islam over all other religions.

The couple, Melissa and John Kevin Wood, worked with the Thomas More Law Center to file the civil rights complaint alleging that Charles County public schools violated their constitutional rights, according to theWashington Free Beacon.

The trouble began when the Woods discovered that their daughter’s world history class at La Plata High School was instructing students to complete homework assignments that reportedly promoted Islam in ways that the parents deemed to be unacceptable. The students were required to write out the “Shahada,” an Islamic creed that amounts to a conversion to Islam when recited by non-Muslims, according to theWashington Free Beacon. The creed states, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Other assignments included reciting by memory the five pillars of Islam.

“Defendants forced Wood’s daughter to disparage her Christian faith by reciting the Shahada, and acknowledging Mohammed as her spiritual leader,” Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said, according to Southern Maryland Online. “Her World History class spent one day on Christianity and two weeks immersed in Islam. Such discriminatory treatment of Christianity is an unconstitutional promotion of one religion over another.”

Story continues: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/01/29/

Parents Furious After School Changes the Word 'God' to 'Allah' in Christian Hymn

By Steve Watson

The newspaper reports that an angry father registered a complaint with the Austrian schools inspectorate, saying that it is unacceptable to change the wording to Christian hymns.

The teacher and the Principal of the school are being questioned regarding the incident.

The teachers claim that Muslim and non Muslim children were supposed to be given different segregated versions of the hymn.

“The teacher had distributed to the Christian and Muslim pupils different texts.” said inspector Karin Lang, claiming that “In the case, a child must have received the wrong copy into their folder”.

The incident dovetails with a professor from the University of Vienna publishing a report warning of rapid Islamisation of Austria’s schools.

The government commissioned report noted that there are at least 150 “problematic” schools in the country.

Professor Ednan Aslan warned that Islamists are attempting to operate a parallel educational system under the radar of the governmental authorities.

The song controversy is also not an isolated incident.

Last month, video emerged of Canadian children singing a song which celebrates Muhammad’s arrival in Medina after he forced Christians to convert to Islam under threat of death.

Read more at: http://www.infowars.com/

Muslims Trying to Expel Christians From Refugee Camp in France

By Henry Samuel

A gunfight has erupted in a migrant camp in northern France, leaving four people wounded after clashes that were thought to have involved rival gangs of smugglers.

Two men were treated overnight for gunshot wounds, a third for stab wounds and a woman for blows to the head following the clashes at the Grande-Synthe camp near Dunkirk.

Four people were held for questioning on charges of attempted voluntary homicide. Police believe the fight erupted between rival people smuggling gangs against a backdrop of simmering tensions between Muslims and Christians in the camp.

David Michaux, a CRS anti-riot officer from the Unsa Police union, told Le Figaro: "There is a real problem of Muslims and non-Muslims. Most of the camp's 3,000-odd occupants are Muslim Kurds from Iraq, Iran and Syria but a minority are Christians from Iran.

"The Muslims are trying to expel the Christians from the camp."

He added: "A unit of gendarmes was at the Grande-Synthe camp [on Tuesday]. They heard shots fired, around 40 according to their estimates."

Police found 9mm bullet casings but, despite sending in scores of anti-riot officers overnight, no weapons.

Grande-Synthe is 22 miles away from the so-called "Jungle" camp in Calais. The population has rocketed from a mere 80 in recent months, and now includes 250 children.

Story continues: http://www.aina.org/news/20160128183337.htm

Pastor Learns Fate for Satanic Islam Sermon

Faith Under Fire

A Christian preacher in Ireland has been acquitted of charges that stemmed from his description of Islam as being “spawned in hell,” but the threat to speech remains because the judge’s ruling was based on the fact the words didn’t rise to the level of being “grossly offensive.”

Cleared of charges was pastor James McConnell, 78, from Shore Road in Newtownabbey, County Antrim.

His comments came in a 2014 sermon, where he said, “People say there are good Muslims in Britain – that may be so – but I don’t trust them. Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell.”

The sermon was delivered from the pulpit of Whitewell Metropolitan Chapel of north Belfast, and became the subject of a Belfast Magistrates Court case.

According to a report in the BBC, the judge’s conclusion was that the speech was “offensive,” but not “grossly offensive.”

McConnell also compared Muslims to the Irish Republican Army.

“Fifteen years ago, Britain was concerned of IRA cells right throughout the nation,” he said. “They done a deal with the IRA because they were frightened of being bombed. Today, a new evil has arisen. There are cells of Muslims right throughout Britain, can I hear an amen, right throughout Britain, and this nation is going to enter into a great tribulation, a great trial.”

McConnell commented after the verdict that he regretted that Muslims thought he was “out to hurt them,” but a Muslim community spokesman identified only as Dr. Al-Wazzan told the BBC such language “is definitely irresponsible and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

WND reported that his text for the sermon was 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

Read more: http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/

Lawsuit: Public School Forced my Child to Convert to islam

By Todd Starnes

Fox News Opinion 

A public high school has been accused of radical Islamic indoctrination by forcing children to profess the Muslim statement of faith, ordering them to memorize the Five Pillars of Islam and teaching that the faith of a Muslim is stronger than the average Christian, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Thomas More Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of John and Melissa Wood. They accuse La Plata High School in Maryland of subjecting their teenage daughter to Islamic indoctrination and propaganda. And when Mr. Wood complained – the school banned him from campus.


“Defendants forced Wood’s daughter to disparage her Christian faith by reciting the Shahada, and acknowledging Mohammed as her spiritual leader,” Thomas More president Richard Thompson said.

The Shahada is the Islamic Creed, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”

article continues at http://www.foxnews.com

ISLAMIC MURDERER: CHRISTIAN GIRLS EXIST TO “PLEASURE MUSLIM MEN”

By Kit Daniels

A group of Muslims reportedly mowed down three Christians with their car, killing one of them, while claiming Christian girls are only meant for “the pleasure of Muslim men.”

Pakistani police are slow to investigate the Jan. 13 attack by four Muslims who spotted the girls while they were walking home to the Christian community of Baowala and proceeded to flirt with them unsuccessfully.

“How dare you run away from us, Christian girls are only meant for one thing, the pleasure of Muslim men,” one of the murderers shouted.  

The men then rammed their cars into the girls.

“Two girls fell to the ground; one’s hip was broken, the other’s ribs were shattered,” journalist Raymond Ibrahim reported. “The youngest, Kiran Masih, aged 17, flew up in the air and crashed into the speeding car’s windshield.”  

The killers laughed as Masih died from her injuries.

“In any other nation, the perpetrators would be arrested, convicted for murder and sentenced for a long term,” human rights activist Wilson Chowdhry said. “Violence against Christians is rarely investigated and highly unlikely to be met with justice.”

Article continues: http://www.infowars.com/

ISLAMIC RAGE ERUPTS OVER CHRISTIAN MARCH

Christian protesters walk through Luton, England. (Photo: YouTube, Britain First)

By Douglas Ernst

A mob of Muslim men swarmed a group of Christian activists on British streets and said they were “taking over” the country.

Members of the political party Britain First held what it claims is the first “Christian patrol” through the streets of Bury Park, Luton. A video posted to YouTube on Saturday shows a swarm of Muslim men converge on the group of 20 cross-carrying Christians.

“You’re jealous that we’re taking over,” a shop owner says at the start of the video.

“We f–king hate you!” and “Muslims will take over! Watch!” two others scream as cops descend on the scene.

Leader Paul Golding and deputy Jayda Fransen said the activists were there to walk through the town, hand out newspapers, and proudly display their faith in Christ.

“This is a British town. I’ll come here if I like. I’ll walk where I like,” Fransen told a group of men asking why they were in Luton.

Fransen and her fellow activists eventually made it through a gauntlet of jeers, threats and expletives before again addressing the camera.

“We just literally got mobbed. Muslims came back from every angle. Muslims told us they’ve taken our country, we’re not welcome, it’s not a Christian country, they’ve taken over and we need to leave. They were threatening violence. People tried to attack me … people tried to attack our activists. They’re throwing things. This is a British town. This is Britain.”

Local interfaith worker Peter Adams of Saint Mary’s Church responded to Britain First’s march on Monday, saying the group “corrupted the message of the cross” as a symbol of “reconciliation, forgiveness and selfless love,” Luton Today reported.

Read more: http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/

Terrorists Kill Seven Missionaries in Burkina Faso

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Michael Riddering

Burkina Faso's [West Africa] first attack by Islamist extremists took the lives of seven Westerners visiting to do short- and long-term missions work.

Terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda opened fire on two hotels and a nearby restaurant in Ouagadougou on Friday, killing 29 civilians from 7 countries, Reuters reports. The gunmen took more than 100 hostages during the West African nation’s first encounter with such extremism, The Washington Post reported.

Six of the casualties were Canadians visiting the country on a three-week missions trip over their Christmas break. Another was an American missionary who, with his wife, had run an orphanage and women’s crisis center in Burkina Faso since 2011.

The Canadian casualties included Yves Carrier, Gladys Chamberland, and their two children, Charles-Élie, 19, and Maude, 37. The family, along with two of their friends, Suzanne Bernier and Louis Chabot, were working at orphanages and schools in remote villages on behalf of a church-affiliated group from their home province of Quebec, reported The Star.

Last Friday, Charles-Élie and Maude were scheduled to fly home, and the group went out for a last meal in the capital city before the two were due at the airport.

Several terrorists entered the Cappuccino Cafe, a restaurant popular among foreigners since it served European food, and opened fire, Reuters reported.


Facebook
Maude Carrier
“I still can’t understand how people who had such a love of life, who were always ready to help, always smiling and loved by so many people, can be taken away in such a horrendous way,” Marie-Claude Blais, Chamberland’s sister, wrote on Facebook. “They did good only to be killed by evil.”

Story continues: http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/january/

Dominance and Submission in Cologne and the Persian Gulf

by William Kilpatrick
Crisis Magazine

Under the Islamic dhimmi system, when Christians paid the jizya tax, they were often required to kneel before the local Muslim dignitary as a sign of submission. Sometimes the tax collector would deliver a slap to the face as an added humiliation. This was in accordance with the Koranic injunction that non-Muslims must not only pay the tax, but also “feel themselves subdued” in the process (9:29).

What is the meaning of the word “Islam” again? “Peace?” Er, no. That was what the vast majority of Americans thought it meant circa 2001. But since then, most of us, with the exception of a couple of presidents and Secretaries of State, have discovered that it actually means “submission.”

Islam is a very tolerant religion. It doesn’t require that you convert to it as long as you submit to it. All they are asking for is a little groveling. Thus, if you are a Christian living in the Ottoman Empire you kneel while you pay the eighty-percent tax, and if you’re a sailor in the U.S. Navy whose boat mysteriously falls into Iranian hands you kneel and then offer apologies for your behavior while thanking your captors for their “fantastic” hospitality. Oh, and if you’re a female sailor, all you have to do is don a hijab as a sign of respect for, and submission to, the codes of Islam.

In the meantime, be assured that your Secretary of State will back you up by offering his own profound appreciation for “the quick and appropriate response of the Iranian authorities.” At the same time, your president can be relied on not to mention the incident at all, he having made some sort of gentleman’s agreement with the Iranians which requires him to pretend that everything they do is both fantastic and appropriate.

article continues at http://www.crisismagazine.com

William Kilpatrick taught for many years at Boston College. He is the author of several books about cultural and religious issues, includingPsychological Seduction; Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right From Wrong; and Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Catholic World Report, National Catholic Register, Aleteia, Saint Austin Review, Investor’s Business Daily, and First Things. His work is supported in part by the Shillman Foundation. For more on his work and writings, visit his website, turningpointproject.com

AFTER DREAMS OF JESUS, IMAM RENOUNCES ISLAM

By Janelle P
Africa

In the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on July 28, in the first ever speech given by an American president to the African Union, Barrack Obama said, "Many of these groups claim the banner of religion, but hundreds of millions of African Muslims know that Islam means peace.” Though that may be true for millions of Muslims, for one Muslim cleric, it was not. This is his story:

Tofik* grew up attending Islamic schools and rose to the position of an imam in his East African village. Several deeply personal revelations brought him to faith in Christ, at the risk of his life.

Tofik trained to become an imam for 24 years at an Islamic madrasa school in Africa. “In school, I only learned about Islam,” he said. “Parts of our teaching were about destroying Christianity. So we did what we learned, by attacking Christians once we finished our training.” He said he was taught that Christians are bad people. He and the other students were also encouraged to steal from and kill non-Muslims. “Our teachers would tell us every time there was a new church in town, and we were told to go and attack the people and destroy the church. So that’s what we did,” Tofik said. “We beat them, attacked the church and burned their Bibles.”’

Tofik was later selected by the local mosque to be trained in Saudi Arabia for further Islamic studies. After finishing his education in Saudi Arabia, he returned to become an imam in his village. He led the construction of 16 mosques in his area. He also imposed a rule—no village leaders or visitors could preach Christianity in his town.

One night, in the midst of his zeal for Islam, his journey to Christ unexpectedly began. “There was an incident in 2002 where I had a vision from the Lord early in the morning around 3 a.m.,” he said. “In the vision, I saw Jesus very clearly telling me to follow Him.”

Story continues: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/

Christians Stage Worldwide Protests Against Norway for Seizing Children From Parents

By Katherine Weber

International protests are being planned throughout the month of January after the Norwegian government removed five children from their Christian parents under accusations of "religious indoctrination."

Protests are planned for the rest of January in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Austria, Romania, Spain, Ireland, India, Poland, and Australia, along with several other countries to speak out against the recent separation of five Christian children from their parents at the hands of government officials.

In November 2015, Norway's child welfare services, known as Barnevernet, removed five children, including three sons and two daughters, from parents Ruth and Marius Bodnariu, residents of Naustdal and members of the Pentecostal Church.

The five children were removed from their family and separated into two foster homes after their school's teacher and principal alerted the authorities that the children were being raised in a Christian household that taught "God punishes sin."

The parents were then accused by child services of practicing "Christian radicalism and indoctrination."

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-worldwide-protest-norway-seizing-christian-children-bodnariu-family-154986/#WuSzoVqjRJVEyOA4.99

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-worldwide-protest-norway-seizing-christian-children-bodnariu-family-154986/#tty2AP2gfVIiH75V.99

(CHRISTIAN POST) – International protests are being planned throughout the month of January after the Norwegian government removed five children from their Christian parents under accusations of “religious indoctrination.”

Protests are planned for the rest of January in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Austria, Romania, Spain, Ireland, India, Poland, and Australia, along with several other countries to speak out against the recent separation of five Christian children from their parents at the hands of government officials.

In November 2015, Norway’s child welfare services, known as Barnevernet, removed five children, including three sons and two daughters, from parents Ruth and Marius Bodnariu, residents of Naustdal and members of the Pentecostal Church.

The parents were then accused by child services of "Christian radicalism and indoctrination".

Along with accusations of "indoctrination," the parents also faced accusations of physical abuse against their children, which they deny.

A petition and a Facebook page have been set up in support of the parents as they continue to appeal to have their family reunited again.

"They are just a normal Christian family trying to raise their children in the knowledge of God! There is no documented or otherwise abuse of any kind in this family," an iPetition that has gained 25,000 signatures since November reads.

Read more: http://www.christianpost.com/news/

The five children were removed from their family and separated into two foster homes after their school's teacher and principal alerted the authorities that the children were being raised in a Christian household that taught "God punishes sin."

The parents were then accused by child services of practicing "Christian radicalism and indoctrination."

image: http://images.christianpost.com/full/92291/bodnariu-protest.jpg

image: http://images.christianpost.com/full/92291/bodnariu-protest.jpg

image: http://images.christianpost.com/full/92291/bodnariu-protest.jpg

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-worldwide-protest-norway-seizing-christian-children-bodnariu-family-154986/#WuSzoVqjRJVEyOA4.99

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-worldwide-protest-norway-seizing-christian-children-bodnariu-family-154986/#tty2AP2gfVIiH75V

Seventh Grader Told to Kill Herself for Not Denying God

In a story gaining momentum since late October, a seventh-grader from Katy, Texas, was made to state “God is a myth” by her middle-school teacher. Now the student is facing startling repercussions for her refusal to back down.

It started when 12-year-old Jordan Wooley’s teacher assigned a quiz at West Memorial Junior High School asking students to label statements as “fact, assertion, or opinion.”

Statements included “America is the most free country on Earth,” and “there is a God.” Jordan said the assignment was to identify “factual claims, commonplace assertions and opinions.” She said she originally answered the statement “there is no God” in two ways, according to a local CBS News affiliate.

Jordan labeled the latter as “fact,” and her teacher told her to mark it otherwise, or face an “F” grade.

“I said it was fact or opinion,” Jordan told the station. “Based on my religion and based on what I think and believe, I do not think it was a commonplace assertion.”

Wooley says her seventh-grade reading teacher said both her answers were wrong and that she had to admit God wasn’t real.

“It was really confusing to me at first because I didn’t really know what to do, so the first thing I did was tell my mom,” Wooley said.

Film Clip and Story from CBS News Affiliate available at: http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/neighborhood/2015/10/27/.

Iran Frees Pastor Saeed Abedini after Three Years in Prison

By Jeremy Weber

Saeed Abedini has finally been freed.

The Iranian-American pastor from Idaho, held for more than three years, wasexchanged as part of a prisoner swap in which Iran released four people and the United States released seven.

"It is confirmed," his wife Naghmehannounced on Twitter. "Saeed is released from Iranian prison."
“This has been an answer to prayer,” she said in a press release from the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), one of Abedini's leading advocates. “This is a critical time for me and my family. We look forward to Saeed's return and want to thank the millions of people who have stood with us in prayer during this most difficult time.”

More than 1.1 million people had joined ACLJ's "Save Saeed" campaign. President Obama personally told Naghmeh last year that freeing her husband was "a top priority." This past October, shewrote to the president in The Washington Postthat it was "past time" to bring him (and the other hostages) home. "Thankfully I do not put my trust in governments or the rulers of nations," she wrote. "Instead I put my trust in God."

Supporters flocked to Naghmeh's Facebook post confirming the good news, which she received after nearly two weeks of Daniel-inspired prayer and fasting for his release.

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but I felt the Lord saying, ‘Let it go—don’t touch the situation with Saeed, and I will take care of it,’” said Naghmeh in an interview with Morning Star News. “So I let go. I stopped my travels. I stopped speaking. Interestingly enough, it happened when I let it go.”

Story continues: http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/

MERCY IN NIGERIA: ‘GOD SPARED MY LIFE FOR A PURPOSE’

*Representative Photo to Protect Identity

By Janelle P in Africa

Mercy is from Gwoza in the violent northeastern area of Nigeria. She and others who used to call Gwoza home watched helplessly as the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram set up camp in the hills to the east of the town. Boko Haram forces soon began encroaching on their area. In June 2014, the militants claimed the town and declared a caliphate there.

The insurgents arrived in Mercy’s neighborhood in the middle of the night.

“Everyone in the town ran helter-skelter to save themselves,” recalls Mercy. My dad and I were separated. I do not know what happened to him. I think he died the same way many others died – they refused to deny Christ.”

The attackers abducted Mercy, 22, and other women and took them to the near-by town of Mubi, which had also fallen.

Mercy says: “They asked if we agreed to become Muslims and to marry Boko Haram members. I pleaded that they allow me to remain a Christian, but my pleas fell on deaf ears. They beat me and told me to never mention Christianity in the camp again. Then they told me that they would arrange a husband for me. I received a husband a few weeks later.”

She doesn’t want to give details about the arranged marriage. All she says was, “Every single day came with tears and fears for the unknown.”

She witnessed how Christian men who refused to deny Christ were killed. She could not endure the torture and gave in to their demands.

“I knew God saw my heart, but still I could not sleep,” Mercy stated. “I prayed and fasted like never before. I kept pleading with God to intervene.”

Mercy's story continues: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/newsroom/

Fired Park Employee Sues Over Lunchtime Baptism

By Bob Unruh

A lawsuit has been filed by a former maintenance worker at Maritime National Historic Park in San Francisco for being fired after performing a baptism for a park visitor during his lunch break.

The case has been documented by Courthouse News, which said Roger Holly’s complaint against the Department of the Interior and his supervisors appeared this week in federal court.

Court documents say Holly, a Baptist minister, reported he baptized a park visitor in the ocean during his lunch break in November 2013. He reported he was out of uniform and simply “helped dunk the visitor into the ocean.”

“The religious ‘ceremony’ Holly performed did not include any outward, objective display of religion, such as reading sacred texts, public prayer, sermonizing or the like. It simply appeared that two persons were swimming in the ocean, much like other park visitors,” CN quoted from the complaint.

He then was interrogated by his supervisor, Robert Kier, who is named as defendant.

Holly reported he assured Kier he would not baptize someone while he was supposed to be working, or in his National Park Service uniform.

“Police State USA: How Orwell’s Nightmare Is Becoming Our Reality” chronicles how America has arrived at the point of being a de facto police state, and what led to an out-of-control government that increasingly ignores the Constitution. Order today!

But he was terminated shortly after.

Story continues:http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/

Being Jewish and Pro-Israel in College 2010 vs 2015

“Israeli Apartheid Week” May 2010 on the Univ. of California,
 Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. Photo: AMCHA Initiative.

By Eliana Rudee
JNS.org  

This week, I was able to talk to many Jewish students from around the world (including a friend from my alma mater who is visiting Israel) about what it is like to be a Jewish student on their university campuses.

I graduated from college just about a year and a half ago, and although much has stayed the same, it’s getting more difficult for Jewish students.

When I entered college in 2010, my professors were accommodating when I needed to miss class for the high holidays. Yet there always seemed to be a bonding event on Yom Kippur, and I had to miss tennis practices if I wanted to be on the Hillel board and attend Shabbat services and dinner. These little things made me feel different from the other students, but by far the greatest source of difficulty as a Jewish student on campus was the way I related to Israel.

I remember receiving a terribly inaccurate email, passed through my school’s list serve, calling Israel an apartheid state that commits war crimes. I remember getting an eviction notice put on my door, “mocking the eviction notices sent to Palestinians by the IDF.” I remember someone coming up to me in the dining hall asking me how “you [Jews] could do all of those terrible things to the Palestinians.” I remember being ostracized in a class and receiving a grade less than I deserved because the paper had pro-Israel content. I remember sitting in a meeting hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine, the group leader asking all the other students to disregard my opinion and that of my friend because we were from the pro-Israel group. I remember when I found swastikas drawn in the bathroom stalls on multiple occasions.

Article continues: http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/12/31/

Christians in the Public Sector are Forced To Hide Their Faith, Former Civil Servant Admits

By Donna Rachel Edmunds
Breitbart London

Christianity is being “silenced” throughout the public sector thanks to a “secularising spirit” which permeates the culture and ensures Christians hide their faith, a former senior civil servant has said.

William Nye spehttp://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/01/04/nt 20 years in Whitehall where he says Christianity is being “squeezed out,” but he believes that government ministers aren’t even aware of the situation.

The Prime Minister David Cameron used his recent Christmas message to affirm that Britain is still a Christian country, but apparently the civil service hasn’t got the memo.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Nye, who held a number of senior Whitehall posts during his time as a civil servant, said that having a Christian faith is viewed within the public service as “odd or unusual” to an extent that would likely surprise government ministers and the general public alike.

“I think there has been, in the 20 years I was in the public sector, a sort of squeezing out of Christianity from many aspects of the public sector,” he said.

“[It is] not universal – obviously there are chaplains in hospitals, there are chaplains in prisons – and I don’t think it is minsters doing it deliberately.”

He admitted that a creeping secularisation of the public sector had led Christians to feel as though they could not disclose their faith, for fear of being seen biased.

Story continues: