Secular Britain
Dear Friends,
Baroness Warsi, chairman of the Conservative Party and a Muslim, said this week that, “My fear is that a militant secularisation is taking hold of our societies.” She explains that we are in danger of denying any Christian influence in the history of Europe: “The societies we live in, the cultures we have created, the values we hold and the things we fight for all stem from centuries of discussion, dissent and belief in Christianity.”
She goes on to say, “For me, one of the most worrying aspects about this militant secularisation is that at its core and in its instincts it is deeply intolerant. It demonstrates similar traits to totalitarian regimes – denying people the right to a religious identity because they were frightened of the concept of multiple identities.”
I can’t fault her analysis. It seems to me to be spot on. So, what is to be done? We will never preserve what remains of Christianity either by studying history or by passing laws. Only real Christians can produce a truly Christian society. As Jesus himself said, the problem lies very deep, and the solution is very simple: “You must be born again”. What our society needs more than anything else is the personal spiritual transformation of every person in it. But we must also say that our goal as Christians can never be merely to produce a Christian society, pleasant though that may be. The apostle Paul reminds us that what is for “the good of many” is “that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33).
Chris Hobbs,
Vicar