A Christian Country?

David Cameron wrote in the Church Times last week of his belief in Britain as a 'Christian country', and our need to be 'more confident about our status' as such. He expressed appreciation of what the churches contribute to our society: Christian values of 'responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility and love'; faith to strengthen us 'in the toughest of times'; and a belief that Christianity can inspire us to 'change people's lives, and improve both the spiritual, physical and moral state of our country, and even the world.' Describing himself as a 'classic' member of the Church of England, he said that he welcomed the contributions of church leaders and faith communities to contemporary issues.

His article drew a robust response from some leading writers, artists, scientists, politicians and philosophers, who wrote an open letter to three of our national newspapers. They accuse the PM of  'mischaracterising ...our country as a Christian country' and suggest there are 'negative consequences for our politics and society' engendered by this view. Quoting recent census data, they seek to demonstrate that in fact religious faith is in decline, and the growth of other ethnic groups and religious faiths further weakens the claim to be a Christian country. They suggest that Cameron's views could even foster alienation, and regret the 'increasing incursions of religion into politics'. 

If I'm honest, as far as the 'Christian country' bit is concerned, I think I am rather on the side of the secularists. Not because I think that such a view is divisive necessarily (many people of other faiths are happy to live in a society where the language of faith is freely spoken and shared values are expressed), but because I'm not sure what it means. There is no way it could be claimed that as a nation we live by Christian values, by and large - otherwise, for example, we would be addressing far more rigorously the rich/poor divide. On the other hand, it is equally obvious that we have a Christian heritage witnessed by the way our laws are set, and by our many ancient buildings, and sublime examples of art, music and literature.

However, history shows that when church and state come too close, when politicians try to recruit Christians to their cause, there are likely to be severe problems. That, for example, is what Hitler did and many German church leaders were naive enough to go along with his rhetoric. The Barmen Declaration of 1934 (written largely by Karl Barth, and with Bonhoeffer among others as signatories) was a courageous stand against the politicization of the church.

For the moment, what interests me most is that Christianity, despite all the obvious signs of decline, still clearly matters! The fact that a PM writes so positively about the Church, and the fact that leading secularists bother to attack it is proof enough that we still have a major influence in the life of our nation. Is it my imagination, but this Holy Week and Easter, were there not even more programmes with Christian content on mainstream radio and TV? And were there not even more public depictions of the Passion story through art and drama - including, for example, the use of 12 shipping containers in the north-east?  If only, as a Church, we were more alert to our calling as witnesses to Christ and the values of his Kingdom; and more aware that there is an audience out there, more ready to listen than we sometimes think.