Response

I am very disappointed by the decision this morning by the High Court not to allow me to wear my purity ring to school as an expression of my Christian faith not to have sex outside of marriage. I believe that Mr. Justice Supperstone’s decision will mean that slowly, over time, people such as school governors, employers, political organisations and others will be allowed to stop Christians from publicly expressing and practising their faith.
Over two years ago, I was concerned at the number of teenagers who were catching sexually transmitted diseases, getting pregnant and/or having abortions.
The Government's Sex Education Programme is not working, and the pressure on young people to 'give in' to sex continues to increase. This is often because of the media’s focus on sex and the expectations of others.
As a Christian I do not agree with sex before marriage. I believe I have a right not only to state my Christian views on sex, but also to demonstrate my Christian faith and commitment to God and my future husband not to have sex before marriage, through the wearing of a purity ring.
I, along with 11 other Christian girls at Millais School decided before God that we would make a commitment not to have sex before marriage, and as a sign of that commitment, to wear a simple silver ring from the ‘Silver Ring Thing’ movement.
The wearing of the ring was to me, a demonstration of my Christian faith and values, which are based on the Bible – which clearly teaches that sex outside of marriage is wrong and therefore not God's best for us.
Despite the fact that Muslims girls at our school wear headscarves, and Sikhs wear Kara bangles, the school refused to allow me to manifest my belief through the wearing of a ring.
The School Governors originally said it was for Health and Safety reasons that purity rings were banned from school, but have offered no evidence to support the view that wearing a ring could physically harm another pupil or staff member.
I still believe the decision by the Governors of the School goes against the Article 9 rights to Freedom of Religion and my right to express my faith in word or deed, in a democratic, Christian-based country.
I shall be consulting my legal team to consider whether to appeal.
Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank my parents, family and friends who have stood by me though all of this, and to the many hundreds of people, both locally in Horsham, across the UK and throughout the world who have sent me letters of support and assured me of their prayers.
I would also like to thank the national press and media for the balanced way in which they have covered this story, and have portrayed it for what it is; another example of the loss of the right of Christians to demonstrate their faith in public.
Lastly, but by no means least, I would like to thank my barrister, Mr Paul Diamond, and Mrs Andrea Minichiello Williams of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship for all their advice, guidance and support through what is a legal and political minefield for a 16-year-old schoolgirl to walk through. I would also like to thank Paul Eddy, of Paul Eddy PR who has guided me through the maze of working with the national press and media.
To everyone I offer my thanks, and I deeply regret that I could not persuade the Court to consider upholding the religious liberty of Christian people in the United Kingdom.
As a Christian though, I live for another Kingdom, and serve another King, Jesus Christ, and therefore I shall continue to live and speak for what is right and true.
Thank you.

Today

I woke up today at about 8am and I was super tired, so I didn’t get out of bed until about 10 minutes before we were leaving. Then we traveled to the warehouse for different workshops, my favorite was preparing yourself for college it was really interesting. After this we had lunch which was so good, I think I am getting a bigger appetite while being here! In the afternoon we were car washing which was so fun, we had a few water fights but I got a bit cold. After went to Victory Church to learn how to set up the equipment needed for the show on Friday. For dinner we went to a really nice restaurant and met the cutest waiter, we got his number as a joke! This evening I slept round a friends house where we watched a movie and went swimming which was really fun. I actually went to bed on time though!

Bruce is Better Than Evan

July 11, 2007
After the 6 hours sleep I had last I am now totally shattered and have the worst throat ever, maybe it wasn’t a good idea staying up so late. For breakfast I had the most amazing rasin bread which was so good. I think I might re stock on food when I go home its so good here! Then we traveled to the warehouse where we had various workshops and enjoyed games. We were going to have a car wash today but that has been changed till tomorrow. At 2.30 we then watched Evan Almighty which I didn’t think was that good, I prefer Bruce Almighty. We finished a bit earlier today so went to the mall again where I bought loads of good stuff, clothes are really cheap here so I’m going to take lots back. I’m hoping to go to bed a bit earlier then hopefully I wont feel so bad!

Adapting

July 10, 2007
Today I woke up at about 7:30 and had eggo waffles and oreos for breakfast I think I have adapted well to the American lifestyle! Then we traveled to the warehouse where we had various workshops, I really enjoyed the seminar where we discussed what our ‘calling’ was. We talked about what we were good at and how we could use this for the future. After this we went to other workshops on dating and being single which were really interesting. At about 4pm we went to Eat n Park where I had a superburger. Our table spent the whole time playing tricks on each other, and I ended up with a line of pencil down my face! After Eat n Park we arrived back at the warehouse where we played board games, I’m still enjoying the hot weather! At about 9pm we headed out to cold stone (ice cream) which was really nice, we also went shopping in the mall for 10 minutes which was so much fun, I bought some shorts and a blue top. At this point I was pretty tired so went back to the house I’m staying at where surprisingly I went to bed at 3am! I think I need an early night tonight.

Loving the weather!!

July 9, 2007
Today I woke up at about 7 as I’m still re adjusting to American time and took a trip to the grocery store which we call the supermarket. I bought a packet of Oreos which I ate for breakfast, the first of many! Then at about 9 we went to the SRT warehouse where we went to a ropes course. It was so much fun, we started with a low ropes course and one of our team members were blind folded and we had to get him through the course without falling off, but we did it in the end. After we climbed the pamper pole which was so scary I was petrified at the top, but I made it! We had such a good team. It was then dinner and we had a cook out of burgers and hot dogs, it was so good, but the mustard tasted different than mustard in England. We then had a huge discussion about accents and one of the friends I made thought it would be funny to make fun of England, it was so funny! By this time it was about 5:30 so we headed back to the warehouse, I’m still well excited about the weather here, I might actually leave with a tan!

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July 6, 2007
This morning I woke up at about 8pm and I was so excited as the day had finally come where I was going to America again! Mum took me to the airport at about 9 and by 12.30 I was boarding the plane ready for take off. The first part of the flight was really boring as I had no T.V so I listened to my ipod for a few hours. By the end of the flight I was pretty tired as England is 5 hours ahead so really it was about 10pm for me. The second flight was a lot better I managed to sleep the whole way through. At about 7.30 Denny arrived to pick me up where I met his daughters from last year. It was really weird because I remembered America just from the smell, especially Denny’s house. I was definitely back again! In England it has been really wet and rainy so to feel the sun was a huge shock! In the evening we went to Burger King, and I was a bit surprised at how you could re fill your drink as much as you want. I was also told that orange juice was only to be drunk for breakfast! After we had finished at Burger King we went home, and I was shown where I would be staying. Downstairs I met some of the family friends where we talked about the difference between England and America. When you say Pants we could say Trousers, and a soda would be a fizzy drink. I then went off to bed at about 9.30 which would have been about 2.30 British time so I was very tired. I had survived my first day in America.

Lydia Arrives in Pittsburgh, PA

Lydia arrives in Pittsburgh, PA and meets Silver Ring Thing founder, Denny Pattyn and several SRT interns.