<\/p>\n
It seems decidedly true a historical Christian site would be of the utmost significance to Christians. And yet, it was a Christian \u2014 a Catholic documentarian \u2014 banned from filming one in England.<\/p>\n
Christian Holden, a U.K.-based filmmaker, was commissioned earlier this year to lead a documentary project about Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, a 7th-century, Anglo-Saxon monk and bishop. The film was to depict the so-called St. Cuthbert\u2019s Way, a 62-mile trek from Melrose Abbey to Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, England.<\/p>\n
St. Cuthbert\u2019s Cave is believed to be the initial resting place of St. Cuthbert\u2019s body in 687 A.D., where monks allegedly hid the bishop\u2019s body during Viking raids.<\/p>\n
Before filming \u201cThe Way of St. Cuthbert,\u201d Holden sought permission from the National Trust, the nonprofit body responsible for protecting and caring for historical sites and natural landscapes across the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
The National Trust ultimately refused his request, citing its policy against \u201creligious affiliation.\u201d Although, it\u2019s not clear whether the decision was based on the religious nature of the project or Holden\u2019s personal religious convictions.<\/p>\n
Voice for Justice UK, a Christian human rights organization, is representing Holden. While the National Trust didn\u2019t clarify why exactly it refused the documentarian, the religious freedom group believes the decision amounts to discrimination under the Equality Act of 2010, which names religion as a protected characteristic.<\/p>\n
A representative for Voice for Justice UK said the banning \u201craises troubling questions,\u201d adding, \u201cThe refusal comes in the wake of wider public debate about the Trust\u2019s direction and priorities. The organization has been criticized in recent years for sidelining Christian heritage in its public programming and internal culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The National Trust has since said it is reviewing Holden\u2019s case,\u00a0according to Premier Christian News.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcome everyone to the places in our care and provide space for people to come together and celebrate their culture and heritage,\u201d it said in a statement. \u201cWe are also proud to look after historic chapels and churches, some of which are still used for worship today, as well as other sites of religious significance.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for\u00a0Faithwire\u2019s daily newsletter\u00a0and download the\u00a0CBN News app\u00a0to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems decidedly true a historical Christian site would be of the utmost significance to Christians. And yet, it was a Christian \u2014 a Catholic documentarian \u2014 banned from filming one in England. Christian Holden, a U.K.-based filmmaker, was commissioned earlier this year to lead a documentary project about Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, a 7th-century,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2646,2643,72,2644,2642,2645,91,712],"class_list":["post-11138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jesus","tag-affiliation","tag-banned","tag-christian","tag-filming","tag-filmmaker","tag-historic","tag-religious","tag-site"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}