This week a letter has been written to Her Majesty the Queen and The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, expressing dissent at the way in which modern British society is surrendering the principles of the Christian faith in order not to offend those of other faiths. A copy has been sent to the Territorial Commander, Commissioner John Matear

Heather, a member of our Songster Brigade, has felt it necessary to protest in this way and we are pleased that she has given us permission to print her letter here.

Heather says:

As a practising Christian, and active Salvationist, I am very disturbed about the way our country is giving way to ethnic minority thinking. I am not saying we should not allow people from ethnic minorities to worship in the manner that they choose but neither should we change our ways of worshipping because we may “offend” them.

Over the Christmas period we have seen “Happy Holiday” instead of “Happy Christmas” and it is proving more and more difficult to find religious cards with the manger scene, etc. on them. After all, the holiday is a Christmas festivity to celebrate Christ’s birth which we should not dilute in any way.

I have ascertained that when the Gideons wanted to put Bibles in our local hospital, the Vicar said it was not right because other faiths were not catered for by this action. The question remains, are we a predominantly Christian country or not? We are constantly being told that we live in a multi-faith society. I do not have a problem with this but this should not result in Christian celebrations and activities being reduced or side-lined.

I feel we should make it abundantly clear where we stand on this subject. People do not have to read the Bible; it is their choice. If people choose to come and live in our country, they equally have a right to choose and practise their own faith. However, we should not restrict or dilute our faith on the basis of a misguided notion that we are offending them.

If we do not make a stand on these matters, we are in effect apologising for being Christians in our own country.

Last week we reported the publication of The Medway Voice, a leaflet calling for Christians to ‘stand up and be counted’. Heather’s action is entirely in keeping with the sentiments of this leaflet. Furthermore, a large number of our Sunday morning congregation also signed to express support for her in taking this bold step. Readers may also wish to add their support by sending comments to this website. Please feel free to do so in the box provided or contact us.

Heather has asked us not to publish a photograph.