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Clergy in Britain are being advised to take off their clerical collars when off duty to lower the risk of attack. National Churchwatch said clergymen are attacked more often than other professionals, the group's Nick Tolson said.Five clergymen were murdered In the past 10 years and a 2001 academic study found that 12 percent of clergy suffered some form of violence. In a survey of 90 London clergy Tolson carried out last year, nearly half said they were attacked in the previous year. One vicar from Willesden, northwest London, said his vicarage was machine-gunned, BBC News online reported Monday."The argument against it is it's their witness in the community - their way of saying, 'hello, I'm the vicar'.That's fine when you're being the vicar. ... When they are on their own, and when they are off duty...there is no need for them to wear their dog collars. All that does is to attract people who see the dog collars, and if they are motivated towards violence, it puts them [clergy] in a very difficult situation."Churchwatch said most police do not specifically record crime against places of worship. It says that crime against churches continues to be a problem, however, and there is "plenty we can do to help reduce it."As in the days of Noah....
