Christian self-pity about a secular Britain is rubbished by official deference to religion
April is the cruelest month for Michael Gove, judging by his cover story in the Spectator. Not only do his fellow Christians have to mark the death of their saviour Jesus Christ over Easter, but they have to endure ‘pity, condescension and cool dismissal’ from the rest of British society.
The Tory chief whip and former education secretary’s article, (the first in a possible return to journalism after the election), argues that Christianity is looked down upon in modern Britain and subject to a wave of mild hostility that overlooks its deep value. As he puts it:
“The contrast between the Christianity I see our culture belittle nightly, and the Christianity I see our country benefit from daily, could not be greater.”
(Gove spent last week trying to sneak a motion through parliament to unseat the speaker of the house. I’m not sure which Christian values were motivating him on that occasion. Perhaps something to do with separating the goats from the sheep?)
The argument itself was addressed well by comedian Robin Ince last year in response to a more extreme version of it by the the Telegraph’s Christine Odone. While the meat of Gove’s piece is standard Christian apologetics – Christianity is the basis of western civilization, Christians have done moral things etc. – the newspapers have scooped it up with glee.
But on the same page (page 2) as the Telegraph ran ‘Gove: Christians in the UK are cowed’ is a story of a row between the Church of England and David Cameron, with the prime minister at pains to show how Christian he is.
As the second story reports, writing in a magazine called Premier Christianity, our own premier looked to soothe tensions with the Church over his social policies, after it roundly criticised them in a 50-page booklet (for which the church was slammed as ‘left-wing’ by the Tory press). Cameron insisted that, while the Church might disagree with his policies, this doesn’t mean they are devoid of ‘moral content’:
“I’m an unapologetic supporter of the role of faith in this country. […] in the toughest of times, my faith has helped me move on and drive forward. […]
“the Christian message is the bedrock of a good society.”
In other words, the head of government is debating social policy with the established church in public, in terms of its adherence to Christian values.
Though it’s true the only prophet he cites is Winston Churchill, and there is an election coming up, the PM has spoken like this before. In his Easter message last year, Cameron spoke of the ‘peace and guidance’ he derives from his Christian faith, saying his big society ethos was invented by Jesus 2,000 years ago, and referring to the Bethlehem babe as ‘our savior’.
The curious pairing of the two stories comes as the government overrides a High Court decision to pass legislation allowing for councils to open meetings with prayer as part of their official business. Or as local government secretary Eric Pickles phrased it last April:
“I’ve stopped an attempt by militant atheists to ban councils having prayers at the start of meetings if they wish,” said Pickles.
“Heaven forbid. We’re a Christian nation. We have an established church. Get over it. And don’t impose your politically correct intolerance on others.”
Got that? Then there’s the Queen, supreme governor of the Church of England and defender of the faith, (prohibited by law from being a Catholic), who in 2012, the year of her diamond jubilee, met with representatives from nine (count them) ‘faith communities’, to expound the virtues of the Church as protector of ‘all the faiths in this country’:
“Our religions provide critical guidance for the way we live our lives and for the way in which we treat each other.
“[…] we should remind ourselves of the significant position of the Church of England in our nation’s life.”
As the Reverend Pickles rightly says, we have an established church, headed by the Queen, who is also head of state. Seats are reserved for Anglican bishops in the upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, as a right, where they can propose, scrutinise and pass legislation that binds the whole country, regardless of conscience. The Church makes public interventions in debates over policy, without any accountability to the public. Politicians from the prime minister to secretaries of state enforce the elevated role of religion with the law.
And while these statements and articles betray anxiety about the increasingly secular nature of British society, with 25 per cent of people ticking ‘no religion’ in the last census, it remains the case that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, still hold a position of incredible privilege – however embarrassed Christians feel about their faith.
Happy Easter bank holiday.
Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter
90 Responses to “Michael Gove need not worry. We’re still a very Christian country.”
littleoddsandpieces
The Church of England is the formal Christian UK state that parliament is within.
But Christianity is the majority faith on the planet and growing.
In the UK, the majority of Christians are not English nor Celt, but foreign in origin or birth.
So the persecution of Christians in the UK is racist, as most are not white.
There are even Arab and Asian and Middle Eastern Christians, older than any Christian denomination in Europe.
Charities have been gagged by law and by government against the starvation caused by welfare reform.
Only the Christian Church is protesting the starvation of the poor, who are mostly in work.
With worse yet to come.
Half of the food banks are Christian.
Sikh temples are feeding locals desperate enough to go into the temple to seek a bowl of food.
Will Hindu and Moslem temples do the same as we wait for the big parties to go extinct from lack of voting?
Schools are feeding the starving kids.
GPs talking amongst themselves about the rise of Rickets, the hunger symptom, not monitored by the government,
Neither is the state monitoring the huge rise in malnutrition hospital admissions said by the doctors again and again
This is Easter, the resurrection, the hope.
No political part in the media eye cares less about the poor nor can be described as Christian, nor would they have been by Jesus Christ who did care about the poor.
Matthew 25:35
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
Isaiah 58:10
If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
James 2:14-18
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Proverbs 28:27
Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.
Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
John 6:35
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Matthew 25:37-40
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Proverbs 31:20
She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.
PARTIES OF THE POOR OF THE LEFT ARE SOCIALIST
AND SO WILL DECRY RELIGION
Christianity is fastest growing in China.
Putin in Russia goes to Christian church.
Even Lenin said British socialism was dogma, an ossified Marxism.
Do not denounce faith.
But come into power and feed and clothe the hungry.
The parties of the poor need to break out of the silence in the blogs and starting posting in them, to give brand awareness.
There is no such thing as a small party.
Voting for small parties is voting big, as small parties have the biggest influence in UK history, and the poor now outnumber all other voters.
http://www.anastasia-england.me.uk
Wackford.
…and many more relish knocking 7 bells out of each other, even within the same religion, Christianity included. You not noticed that?
Guest
I think you’re not quite aware what polytheism is.
Christianity isn’t, even with their “Trinity” concept.
Wackford.
I am fully aware of what it means. How many are there currently who worship multiple deities? I was more concerned with the religions who, although they profess to worship the same “God”, are prepared to slaughter each other because they have, for example, a different messenger.
Guest
So you’re ignoring what I typed. Right. You keep talking to yourself then.
And yes, I’m worried about the far right.