Last Wednesday, during the last Prime Minister’s Questions of 2015, I asked David Cameron:
“As we approach the festival marking the birth of Jesus Christ, may I invite the Prime Minister to send a message of support to the millions of fellow Christians around the world who are suffering persecution?
“May I also invite him once again to remind the British people that we are a country fashioned by our Christian heritage and it is that heritage that has resulted in our giving refuge to so many of other faiths over so many centuries, but that we will not tolerate those who abuse our freedom to try to inflict their alien and violent fashions upon us, particularly in the name of Islam?”
I am therefore delighted that today, as he has done before, the Prime Minister has reasserted his belief that Britain
isa Christian country. The Christian faith is woven through every part of our society. 16,000 churches populate our towns and villages, 26 Bishops of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords as legislators and Christian prayers open every day’s proceedings in each House of Parliament. As people rush round the stores to snap up last minute bargains, just check the coins in your pocket: every one bears the letters ‘FD’ or ‘Fid Def’, proclaiming that Her Majesty the Queen is not only our Sovereign but also, as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, ‘Defender of the Faith’. When during the general election campaign in May I attended hustings at the Farnborough 6th Form College, one of the finest in Britain, I was challenged by a young lady about my assertion that the UK is a Christian country. Not one of the 70 or so young people, nor their teachers, knew what those coins proclaim.
Despite the central role played by the Christian faith in our lives, it is clear that there is a growing indifference to our Christian heritage. As recently as 2001, 72% of people in England and Wales identified themselves as Christian whilst in 2011 that figure had fallen to 59%. Whilst our church services tonight will undoubtedly be well attended, routine church services see dwindling congregations, although there are exceptions such as the growing black churches.
This trend towards a secular society has been exacerbated by the pervasive rise in so called equality, which hails all views as equal except those which disagree with the equality agenda, is trying to nullify the power for good of the Christian message in Britain today. The problem with this position is that instead of creating a better society, it merely creates a vacuum to be filled by other louder, more belligerent voices, and which the liberal agenda will not allow to be challenged for fear of causing offence.
A recent example of this was the decision by Digital Cinema Media, the company which owns the leading cinema chains in Britain, to ban the showing of a 60 second advert about the Lord’s Prayer. Despite the Church of England agreeing the arrangement in principle with DCM in the summer, the company decided to ban the advert for fear that it “could cause offence” to some viewers.
By contrast, criticism of Islam is drowned out by shrill and angry voices claiming such criticism causes offence to Muslims. Paradoxically, the most strident critics are to be found in the non-Muslim ‘human rights’ brigade.
The obsession with not being seen to cause offence to non-Christians is now being played out in our schools. Following the Trojan Horse scandal, the Department for Education now sensibly seeks to ensure radicalisation of young people is stopped. Whilst there is no suggestion that other faith groups apart from Muslims are acting in this way, all religions are being subjected to the same inquisition. The Department is proposing that
anyreligious group which meets for 6 hours or more a week or for holiday clubs or week-long bible camps should be inspected by Ofsted to ensure that they adhere to ‘British’ values. This is ridiculous.
Blowing up innocent people clearly is not in keeping with any values but what about a statement that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life? Will it now become illegal to make such a statement to children on a bible camp while the Ofsted inspector at the back of the room takes notes on everything which is said which might offend others? What about teaching children that the Bible explains that marriage can only ever be between a man and woman? Will the organisation be shut down as result of proclaiming such views which were universally accepted until only very recently and remain at the heart of Christian teaching throughout the UK?
Clearly, we are in danger of creating a very divisive clash between the centuries-old Christian values which have profoundly shaped our country and new-found ‘British’ values.
To those who assert that secularism is the answer, look at France, a secular country which has a very serious problem with Muslim extremism, tragically underlined by the horrific events in Paris on 13th November. If you create a vacuum in your society and bury your head in the sand, you lose control over what fills it: ignoring the problem does not solve it.
The PM responded to my second question by saying:
“Yes, Britain is a Christian country. I believe that the fact that we have an established faith and that we understand the place of faith in our national life makes us a more tolerant nation and better able to accommodate other faith groups in our country. That is why, as I said earlier, we should be proud that this is one of the most successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith, multi-religion democracies anywhere in the world. That is not in conflict with our status as a predominantly Christian country; that status is one of the reasons why we have done it.”
I welcomed his response but he and we deceive ourselves if we do not admit that the vast majority of threats to our security come from people who are acting in the name of Islam. Whether they are right or wrong in their association with the religion is almost academic, what is clear is that Muslims have a major problem with how some in their ranks use their religion to further extremist agendas. Whether that is the attacks in Paris, the seven foiled attacks in Britain over the last year or the barbarous death cult of Daesh beheading and enslaving fellow Muslims as well as Christians, Yazidis and other minorities, these are all being done not in the name of Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism or Christianity but in the name of Islam.
The Prime Minister has just released sections of the classified investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood. Whilst the report has decided not to ban the organisation, it did state that the Muslim Brotherhood “played an important role in establishing and then running the Muslim Council of Britain”. The MCB, which denies the link, is the umbrella group for all major Muslim groups in Britain.
The Prime Minister has also commissioned an enquiry into “entryism” by Muslims into the NHS, civil service, local government and education. This is an astonishing step unless there is credible intelligence that radical Muslims are seeking to infiltrate every strata of British society.
In response to the first part of my question last Wednesday on persecution, the Prime Minister said
“we should do everything we can to defend and protect the right of Christians to practise their faith the world over”.
Whilst I am encouraged by the Prime Minister’s response (and I salute the role the UK has played in the relief of suffering in Syria) I am extremely concerned that not one of the Syrian refugees in Britain is registered as Christian. Not only are the Syrian Christians persecuted by Daesh but they fear for their lives in the refugee camps, many of which are run by Islamists seeking to impose Sharia law. As a result, they live outside the camps and so are often unable to claim asylum via the UNHCR. In January 2014, I asked the Home Secretary to prioritise Christians from amongst the Syrian refugees seeking shelter here under the vulnerable person relocation scheme, but my suggestion was brusquely rejected.
There is a constant assertion that now we are a multi-cultural, multi-faith country it is we, the indigenous population who have to change our ways rather than the incomers adjust to ours. The people of Britain are a tolerant people, forged by that very Christian heritage now under threat, yet their legitimate concerns about massive immigration flows have for four decades been dismissed as racism.
Despite the Prime Minister’s welcome statement today, our Christian faith continues to be marginalised. Most Brits feel slightly uncomfortable about expressing religious sentiments, but it is now time to cry ‘Britons Awake!’ Tomorrow, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ whose message of love and compassion for our neighbour, whether inside or outside our borders, let us remember that which has shaped the very people we are. We must now overcome our hesitation and proudly celebrate our freedoms, rooted in our Christian faith, and fight to protect Britain’s greatness as a society which promotes tolerance of the view of others. If we fail to defend our values, there are others of differing faiths and none who are waiting in the wings, and already emerging, who will fill the vacuum with repressive ideologies which truly are contrary to British values.