The Rt Revd Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has complained of a “strident and bullyÂing campaign” to marginalise ChrisÂtianity in the UK.
At a symposium organised in the House of Lords last week by the Christian Broadcasting Council, Lord Carey said: “Christianity, which has given so much to our country, is now being sidelined as never before as though it is a stranger to our nation.”
Britain had “reached a point”, he said, “where politicians are mocked for merely expressing their faith. I cannot imagine any politician expresÂsing concern that Britain should remain a Christian country. That reticence is a scandal and a disgrace to our history.”
The AC does a fair enough job marginalizing themselves.
Alas, the evidence is indeed mounting that England, like the rest of Europe, is suffering from acute embarrassment over its Christian past. It’s not so much a case of amnesia, or true forgetfulness it seems, as a desire to turn its back on its past. We are indeed in a strange, new post-Christendom era.
And that calls for a radical rethinking of how we as Christians relate to the surrounding society and try to go about fulfilling the Great Commission in such a radically changed social context. But the pre-Constantinian Church and the persecuted, missionary Church in the Global South can help us discover a way not only to survive, but to thrive in such a challenging environment.
However it all starts with coming to grips with the reality of this harsh new post-Christendom culture we find ourselves in today.
David Handy+