Imagine living in a society where an anonymous informant contacts your employer to report posts on your private Facebook account. You are a Christian and you posted an article and a petition objecting to a compulsory sex education programme which promotes controversial gender identity theory to young children being used in your son’s Church of England primary school. Your concerns about this kind of teaching reflect your Christian beliefs on sexual morality and are widely shared in society and part of contemporary political discourse.

Rather than ignoring the informant, imagine your employer formally investigates you for these posts. You are called into a meeting to face a six-hour long interrogation during which you are told that you have no “absolute right” to freedom of speech. When you try to explain that your posts reflect your Christian beliefs, you are told to “keep your religion out of it!” One of those present compares you to a “pro-Nazi right-wing extremist”. 

Your employer continues to investigate you and finally concludes that you should be dismissed for “illegal discrimination”, “serious inappropriate use of social media” and “online comments that could bring [your employer] into disrepute and damage the reputation of [your employer].”

While that might sound like an account of a Soviet dissident from the communist era, it is actually the experience of a British Christian woman who was summarily dismissed from her position as a school pastoral assistant in precisely the way described. Had the option of sending her to the Gulag been available to the governors of Farmour’s School in Fairford, one would hardly be surprised to hear that they considered that an appropriate punishment. 

A landmark case

Five years later, her case is set to be heard by the Court of Appeal this week in what is widely recognised as a landmark case for freedom of expression. The Court will determine whether it is lawful for an employer to punish employees for private social media posts expressing beliefs on religious, political and moral issues. It is likely to set where the law stands on such issues for many years to come and will be widely cited in future and forthcoming cases.

The widespread recognition of the importance of this case has been demonstrated by the number of high-profile organisations that have been given permission to intervene in the hearing. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has intervened, arguing that there is now “a phenomenon” of employers being pressured by third parties to punish employees for exercising free speech that has “become more common.” The Free Speech Union has also been given permission to intervene in the case, as have the Association of Christian Teachers, Sex Matters, and the Church of England Archbishops’ Council.

Not the only one

Kristie Higgs is not the only Christian to have been forced out of employment due to expressing her Christian views on social media or elsewhere. Many others have suffered similar discrimination. Felix Ngole was expelled from a social work course at Sheffield University for Facebook posts arguing his Christian belief in sexual morality and that marriage is between a man and a woman. The university argued that such views should be a bar to the profession. Four years later he was reinstated after the Court of Appeal ruled in his favour. More recently, however, he had a job offer withdrawn after his employer discovered his outrageous Christian beliefs.

Keith Waters was forced out of his job as a part time school caretaker after posting a tweet that expressed his Christian concerns about Pride events being harmful for children. He also faced harassment from the local community, including a death threat. The Employment Tribunal later ruled that the school had discriminated against him. 

Brian Walker was forced out of his job at an NHS Trust for expressing his Christian beliefs on multiculturalism, Islam and same-sex marriage. Dr Aaron Edwards was sacked as a theology lecturer for a tweet expressing his Christian views on human sexuality. Rev. Dr Bernard Randall lost his job as a school chaplain after a chapel sermon suggesting that pupils are free to disagree with LGBT ideology. Joshua Sutcliffe lost his job as a teacher for saying “well done girls” to some female pupils in his class, one of whom later complained that she identifies as male. Christian artist Victoria Culf found herself banned from her own exhibition and reported to the police for saying in casual conversation that it is harmful for children to try and change their sex.

A Christian primary school teacher who must remain anonymous  lost her job after raising safeguarding concerns over a child being allowed to socially transition gender at her school. King Lawal was cancelled by several organisations and forced to resign from his own business after he posted a tweet expressing his Christian objections to Pride events. Maureen Martin lost her job at a housing association for expressing her Christian beliefs on marriage in an election manifesto. 

Should Christians be barred from employment?

These cases are the tip of the iceberg. Many other Christians have run into trouble for expressing their Christian beliefs and have not resorted to the courts or to publicity. I suspect that the vast majority of Christians self-censor and keep their views to themselves. They know that we are now living in a society where free speech is not protected and where traditional Christian beliefs on sexual morality in particular are not tolerated.

Should Christians be forced into silence on pain of losing their jobs? 

Is this the kind of society we want to live in? Should someone who believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that sexual expression is reserved for marriage be unemployable? Should Christians be forced into silence on pain of losing their jobs? 

This is what the Court of Appeal will be deciding this week. Are employers justified in sacking Christians for expressing their Christian views? A lot is at stake. Should Kristie lose, it will mean that the courts support discrimination against Christians for expressing their beliefs. It will be a loss for all Christians. Should Kristie win then there will still be some hope that freedom of speech for Christians is respected and protected. 

Anyone who cares about free speech should watch this case with interest. It will help to determine what kind of society we are living in.