Christianity has “lost status” because of equality and human rights legislation, say

An Equality and Human Rights Commission report has found that "some Christian employers, service users and providers" believe Christianity has "lost status" because of equality laws.
In a new report published by the EHRC into the personal experiences of employees, employers and service providers concerning "religion or belief" in the workplace, many respondents described workplaces as an "inclusive environment" where they could take time off for religious holidays and discuss religion with employees or customers.
However, some "employees and students" claimed to have "encountered hostile and unwelcoming environments" either because they were not religious, or because of a religious faith they held, whilst some Christians criticised equality and human rights law, blaming it for Christianity 'losing status' in the UK.
The report drew attention to "some evangelical Christians [who] felt that Christian beliefs had lost their place in society and that this made it more difficult for them to express these beliefs in the workplace and in service delivery." This group of respondents felt there was now "less respect for religious beliefs." The EHRC found that some respondents "wanted to be able to discriminate on the basis of their religion in employment (for example, when recruiting new staff) and when providing goods, services and facilities."
Mark Hammond, CEO of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the Commission would use the evidence to "examine how effective the law is in this area".
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager for the National Secular Society, said: "Christians fearing that Christianity has lost its status is not a valid reason for revisiting our equality laws. We've got a good equality framework in the UK which means people's religion and beliefs are being accommodated so far as is reasonable, and competing demands are being balanced. Britain is a better, fairer, place for it.