The head of the equality commission has damaged his credibility by claiming that British Christians are more militant than Muslims in complaining about discrimination.
Critics say Sir Trevor Phillips must be “living in a different Great Britain” and the commission’s ignorance is “woeful”.
Sir Trevor Phillips said that Muslims are trying hard to integrate into British society while Christians are claiming to be victims of discrimination for ‘political’ reasons.
Irrelevant
The chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also branded African-Caribbean Christianity as irrelevant “old time religion”.
But the Evangelical Alliance (EA) has accused Mr Phillips of being “mistaken”, warning that the “likely reality is that Christianity is seen as a soft target”.
The EA also warned that the Commission had failed to properly engage with Christians.
Failure
They added: “This failure to engage may have largely destroyed the Commission’s own credibility with the faith sector not least by actively taking sides against them, and forced hard-pressed Christians to feel they have no option but to defend themselves.”
And Andrea Minichello Williams, director of the campaign group Christian Concern, said: “Trevor Phillips appears to be living in a different Great Britain to me.”
Mr Phillips made his comments during an interview with The Sunday Telegraph ahead of a new report into religious discrimination.
Gaffes
Mr Phillips comments are the latest in a series of anti-Christian gaffes from the beleaguered quango.
Earlier this year, a lawyer for the Commission warned that children could be “infected” by the moral views of Christian foster parents who oppose homosexual behaviour.
And the Commission funded a recent legal action against the Christian owners of a B&B who restrict double rooms to married couples.
When they won, they took out another legal action to demand a stiffer penalty against the Christians. But they withdrew after a public outcry and said it was an “error of judgment”.