Jennie Cain, a school receptonist at Landscore Primary School in Devon, is being investigated for professional misconduct for sending a private email prayer request emailed to friends following an incident where her five year old daughter had been told off by a teacher at the school for discussing Jesus in the classroom.
On 22 January 2008 five year old Jasmine Cain was taken aside by her teacher and told off for talking about heaven and God with a friend. Jasmine was clearly very upset by the situation when she met her mother at the end of the school day and Mrs Cain could not believe that a teacher had told Jasmine that she could not talk about Jesus. Mrs Cain discussed the issue with a different teacher and a day later she was asked to meet with head teacher Gary Read to discuss, amongst other matters, Jasmine’s situation. It was after this meeting that Mrs Cain contacted ten close friends from her church by email, asking them to pray for the events that had taken place.
Mrs Cain was called back to see Mr Read a few days later and was stunned to discover that her email had been retrieved and highlighted by Mr Read who refused to say where he got the email from. Mr Read told Mrs Cain that she was being investigated and that she may be disciplined and could face dismissal. Mrs Cain, a mother of two, says that she is upset about the way that she has been treated and that she is shocked at the speed at which the events leading up to her investigation have happened. She describes herself as a “quiet Christian” who would never force her beliefs on others but that her beliefs have not been respected and that she has not been treated fairly. Mrs Cain highlighted the absurdity of the situation when she asked: “If children can go to school and sing a song which mentions Jesus, how are they meant to know that they are then not allowed to talk about God?”
Mrs Cain’s case is being supported by the Christian Institute who said she was the latest example of a Christian being persecuted by society.
Andrea Williams, Director of the Christian Legal Centre, said, “Jennie Cain is the face of what happens when so-called equality and diversity laws run amok. They lead to oppression and censorship, fear amongst ordinary people and snooping into private e-mails and communications. Ordinary citizens need to wake up to what is happening in our country and call upon the Government to intervene before it is too late in order to halt a proliferation of these cases. We would ask the Government to act in accordance with the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 36/55 to combat this growing religious intolerance.”
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