Billboard Christians

Britain’s Cardinal Keith O’Brien, head of the Catholic church of Scotland, has new plans to fight the marginalization of religion in modern society.

He has said all Christians must wear some type of cross regalia on their bodies everyday as “a symbol of their beliefs.”

O’Brien said he hopes that proposing this idea around the Easter season will remind everyone about “the centrality of the cross in our Christian faith.”

But this is an odd request, and there are many issues with this call to adorn.

For many, religion is a very personal relationship they like to keep to themselves. This does not mean these people aren’t proud or devoted to their chosen higher being; they simply see no need to go around boasting their beliefs with the hope of influencing others.

Forcing these people to show the world that they are Christian is uncomfortable and not entirely necessary.

Another major issue with asking Christians to advertise their religion is the fact that this kind of branding focuses on differences more often than it focuses on similarities; we tend to label in order to expose. This would not be an act of solidarity so much as it would be advertising a divide between a highly dominant religion and others.

O’Brien claims that Catholicism and Christianity on the whole are being pushed out of the mainstream. A recent Pew survey, however, shows that 23 percent of Americans are Catholic out of the 78 percent who are Christian. If all of these followers were to go around showing off their cross paraphernalia, it would border on totalitarian.

While O’Brien might not have this in mind, it certainly comes across as an already publicized and popular religion looking to assert itself further in the Western world. He’s looking to have a new type of modern missionary.

O’Brien won’t achieve his goal of de-marginalizing Christianity by making moving billboards out of his followers.

The Cardinal does cite a 2006 problem in which Nadia Eweida was suspended by British Airways for breaching the uniform code to justify his plea. This certainly is a violation of human rights, but it is by no means an instance that shows all Christians needing to suddenly break out their religious gear at once.

Independently deciding that displaying your beliefs through a pin or crucifix chain can neither be stopped nor discouraged, but all Christian followers will never reach this point.

Ultimately, displaying your religion should be a personal choice. One man who seems to desire even more popularization of the Christian faith should not regulate an entire group.

­— sjostrow@indiana.edu