Silver Ring Thing Case

In the news today: Sussex teenager Lydia Playfoot has taken her former school to the High Court on appeal, because they will not let her wear a ring symbolising the Christian belief in sexual abstinence outside marriage. Judgment has been reserved to a future date, according to the BBC report.

Ms Playfoot is the daughter of two workers for Silver Ring Thing UK. She argues that the school has contravened her human right to freedom of religious expression, that they have shown anti-Christian bias, because Sikh and Muslim pupils can wear bangles and headscarves in class. She believes the school does not respect this aspect of Christianity, which is counter-cultural in today’s society.

In contrast the head teacher, Leon Nettley, sees it as an issue of basic school uniform. The school argues that Sikh and Muslim pupils are only allowed to wear items integral to their religious beliefs, whereas the silver ring is not for Christians. However they would allow a Christian pupil to wear a crucifix. It further says that in choosing the school, the Playfoots voluntarily accepted the uniform code.

It’s interesting to try to assess the arguments from a Christian perspective. Certainly it is easy to observe that headscarves or more severe coverings are integral to Islam for females. The silver ring, being a recent development, cannot be said to be integral to Christianity. Sexual abstinence outside marriage is, however, traditionally fundamental to Christian ethics.

What is strange is the school’s argument that a crucifix is integral. It depicts the central and defining episode of the Christian narrative, namely the Cross, but it is not mandatory to wear. This makes the school’s case rather odd; it appears ill-informed.

Yet if one reads the New Testament wondering what the fundamental Christian symbols are, the replies would not be in terms of jewellery or material objects, but in terms of lifestyles (of which abstinence outside marriage is one, as is taking up one’s cross). These are the primary witnesses for Christians.

Another question is about the effectiveness of the abstinence campaigns among young people, and I say that as one who does not wish to undermine this ethical stance. Critics of the Bush administration’s support for such programmes have pointed out that they do not achieve a higher success rate than the rest of the population. Taking vows and wearing rings do not of themselves improve moral behaviour. That requires God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Of course Silver Ring Thing teaching is big on forgiveness, even saying that teens who have become sexually active can be forgiven and receive a ‘second virginity‘. They also train youth leaders to support the teenagers in their care. Their course offers help in facing temptation, building healthy relationships, recognising consequences and allowing God to take control of one’s sexual life. That sounds much more healthy than a naïve ‘just say no’ campaign, and is much better than a ‘safe sex’ campaign that reduces everything to biological health, not moral health. Unfortunately the statistics page only gives all the negatives about social trends; it doesn’t, or isn’t able to, give any idea about the success of the SRT programme.

The question arises, then, about how positive a witness SRT is – noble as its intentions are. I find it interesting to compare this approach with something I read today. My current reading is Michael Frost‘s book ‘Exiles: Living Missionally In A Post-Christian Culture‘. On page 124 he quotes from page 189 of Alison Morgan‘s book ‘The Wild Gospel: Bringing Truth To Life‘. Morgan says,

Anxiety … means that insofar as we do engage with the world out there, our contribution is mostly a worried attempt to restrain it; afraid for our children, we strive to uphold the moral standards of a sliding culture by campaigning against abortion or disapproving of stories about wizards, The result is that we keep our moral and spiritual integrity, but our witness is lost.

I guess Lydia Playfoot’s ring will have caused some immediate conversations with her peers about her faith; what will count most is the living out of what it symbolises, in a positive and missional way, not a defensive or judgmental way. I fear that using a court case to maintain her ‘human rights’ may be construed as a defensive approach where, in Morgan’s terms, her ‘witness is lost’. I hope I am wrong.

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