UK Religious Leaders Mount "Stout Defense of Christianity's Place in British Society"

Neil Tweedie and Jonathan Petre/Teresa Neumann Reporting : Dec 19, 2005
Telegraph UK

The Telegraph UK reports that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, and his predecessor, Lord Carey, have mounted a "stout defense of Christianity's place" in British society, saying political correctness or fear of offending other religions should not be allowed to cloud the fact that Christianity lies at the heart of British culture.

The two attacked "silly bureaucrats" who insist on banning Christian words and symbols in a "misguided attempt to placate Muslims and others" and Dr. Williams warned that Christmas was in danger of being turned into a "secular winter festival through a mixture of political correctness and profit-driven consumerism".

"It's not the Christmas pudding that the authorities will be coming for but the Christmas crib, if some people have their way," said Williams. "And it's all because of a quite wrong-headed idea that our neighbors from other religious traditions will be offended by Christian symbols. The truth is they're usually much happier with the idea of a Christian festival than with some general excuse to have a good time in midwinter."

Lord Carey agreed that Christianity was integral to British society. "If you take the Christian faith out of British identity, what have you got left? That's not to say you can't be British and a Jew, or British and a Muslim. Of course I'm not saying that. But we are talking about a British identity. The majority of people in this land identify themselves by a common language, by common culture and by the implicitness of the Christian faith itself. It's a very important part of our identity."

Speaking on a Sunday television program, he warned also of creeping political correctness. "There is a view around that practicing Christianity and all the symbols that go with it embarrasses people of other faiths; and of course that's nonsense."

Noting that he believes a minority of people in leadership want to marginalize religion in order to create a more secular state like that of neighboring France, he added, "That would not be the Britain I know. We can't keep faith out of politics or out of public life. It's part of our own identity."

"I cannot understand how you can be British without having the core faith at the heart of it which is Christianity," he added. "To the legislators I say: Let's apply common sense principles to all our laws and legislation but let's be aware of the rich vein of the Christian faith which runs through our history and laws, culture, literature and so on."