Britain is no longer a Christian country and should stop acting as if it is, a major inquiry into the place of religion in modern society has concluded, provoking a furious backlash from ministers and the Church of England.
A two-year commission, chaired by the former senior judge Baroness Butler-Sloss and involving leading religious leaders from all faiths, calls for public life in Britain to be systematically de-Christianised.
It says that the decline of churchgoing and the rise of Islam and other faiths mean a “new settlement” is needed for religion in the UK, giving more official influence to non-religious voices and those of non-Christian faiths.
Read it all from the Telegraph.
Update Ruth Gledhill who spoke before the commission really does not like the report.
My recollection is that she is related [although I am not certain how directly] to the surviving relatives of Kafka, who were among those who found a home here … because Britain is a Christian nation.
But that was then, and this is now, I suppose.
She had to stand down recently from heading the enquiry into child abuse when it turned out that her brother, Sir Michael Havers, the Attorney General at the time of the alleged abuse, was in line for criticism.
This is what happened in the U.S. in Emerson v. Vitale, creating out of thin air the infamous “separation of church and state” rule. This effectively overturned the entire legal jurisprudence prior to that, including Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States where the Supreme Court had declared that the U.S. is a Christian nation.
If Britain is “no longer Christian,” this is a call for Christian British to get back to work evangelizing.
Two points. One, this is a self-selected commission and not an official one. Second, the journalism in the Telegraph seemed to me to be dismal. It kept on talking about Britain when all the references seemed to be to England. So did this commission consider Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland? Or did it limit itself to England? If the latter, why does the article speak about Britain so airily? It makes you understand the Scots and their detestation of English myopism.
And yet. You folks in the US live where there is separation of church and state. Yes, sometimes it is taken to ludicrous extremes, but I do not think it is coincidental that churches flourish in such an atmosphere. Their message is their own. They are not seen as an arm of the state.
Very good point, Katherine at #3. This sort of thing should be a call to arms among the committed Christians.
I agree Fr Tee. And note the sub-text – this report is not about separation of church and state at all, but rather about suborning all religions to the worship of the state:
[blockquote] “The report backs moves cut the number of Church of England bishops in the Lords and give places to imams, rabbis and other non-other non-Christian clerics as well as evangelical pastors.”[/blockquote]
Baroness Butler-Sloss has made herself look like a complete dill with this report. Perhaps she could no longer cope with the serious work in the House of Lords so she has been put out to grass with this report.
With various public figures calling the report “seriously misguided”, “ridiculous” and “a sad waste”, it looks as though it is time for the Baroness to quietly retire before she embarrasses herself further.
Good point Michael. There was no genuine separation envisaged, more a neutering of distinctive Christian witness.
But what on earth is Rowan Williams doing, in being associated with such a dismal group?