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Lion Hudson - George Carey , Andrew Carey

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125 pages

English

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Secular assumptions are being introduced piecemeal into our way of life. From the Millennium Dome (what exactly was it celebrating?) to the restrictions on the wearing of crosses and abolition of nativity plays, Christianity is being marginalised. Christian social initiatives at local levels are now so severely restricted that several Christian bodies issue guidelines on handling local council prejudice. There is a widespread if ill-defined sense that a valuable heritage is slipping away. Yet the Bible and Prayer Book are seminal for our language and literature; Christian social action predated the modern welfare state; our laws are based on Christian ethical systems. Christians should push back, re-engaging with politicians and opinion formers. Christians must be salt and light. Introverted Christianity must give way to engagement with the world, not defensively but with confidence and hope. It is time for a proper debate about the place of faith in modern Britain.

Sujets

Royaume-Uni

Great Britain

United Kingdom

Reino Unido

Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Lion Hudson
Date de parution	02 février 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780857212733
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0400€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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WE DON T DO GOD
GEORGE CAREY AND ANDREW CAREY

Oxford, UK, & Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Copyright 2012 by George Carey and Andrew Carey
The right of George Carey and Andrew Carey to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First published in the UK in 2012 by Monarch Books (a publishing imprint of Lion Hudson plc) Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England Tel: +44 (0)1865 302750 Fax: +44 (0)1865 302757 Email: monarch@lionhudson.com www.lionhudson.com
ISBN 978 0 85721 030 2 (print) ISBN 978 0 85721 273 3 (epub) ISBN 978 0 85721 272 6 (Kindle) ISBN 978 0 85721 274 0 (PDF)
Distributed by: UK: Marston Book Services, PO Box 269, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4YN USA: Kregel Publications, PO Box 2607, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501
Scripture are quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan and Hodder & Stoughton Limited. All rights reserved. The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.
British Library Cataloguing Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Lion Hudson.
In memory of Simon, a beloved grandson and nephew.
1986-2010
We thank you for the life and love you gave.
CONTENTS

COVER

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE LIVING IN CRITICAL TIMES

CHAPTER TWO WHAT HAS CHRISTIANITY DONE FOR US?

CHAPTER THREE THE CHANGING STATE OF BRITAIN

CHAPTER FOUR THE ATTACK ON CHRISTIANITY

CHAPTER FIVE FAITH IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE

CHAPTER SIX CLASHING WITH THE LAW

CHAPTER SEVEN THE ROOTS OF CONFLICT

CHAPTER EIGHT ESTABLISHMENT: A BULWARK AGAINST INTOLERANCE

CHAPTER NINE CHALLENGING THE CULTURE
INTRODUCTION

There is a deep malaise in modern Britain about the role of faith in the public square. At times it seems a crusade is being waged by the militant wing of secularism to eradicate religion in general - and Christianity in particular - from any role in public life. Yet this is only a small part of the story we tell during the course of this book. For the most part, the unease with which modernity regards the public manifestation of faith arises out of ignorance, historical forgetfulness, and well-meaning but mistaken multiculturalism . There is a hard-fought conflict between a secular spirit and the Christian faith. We have no problem at all with an open spirit of enquiry or even unbelief. We believe wholeheartedly in the freedoms we have gained. To live in an open democracy where ideas flourish is something we have experienced in the West for centuries. The evidence from 2011 s so-called Arab Spring is that this open democracy is something that is envied throughout the world.
In the course of this book we salute the few brave Christian souls who have had the courage to stand up against bullying tactics and, as a result, have lost employment. But what they have lost exactly is even more precious than jobs - they are the victims of injustice, for to hold to principles central to biblical Christianity is now being increasingly seen as unacceptable. We believe this to be wrong. Presciently, Tom Bingham, in his magisterial book The Rule of Law , states: You may believe what you like provided you keep your beliefs to yourself or share them with like-minded people, but when you put your beliefs into practice in a way that impinges on others, limits may be imposed, if prescribed by law, necessary in a democratic society 1 That is the crux of the matter. Tom Bingham, while acknowledging the fundamental role that the Christian faith has played in the development of the law, shows that the advancement of human rights has had the effect of removing a uniquely Christian belief system from the same.
This is the argument of our book. We are not pleading for special treatment for Christians, only for justice. It is our hope that the Christian faith that has blessed our nation more than most of us realize, may continue to flourish and make a positive contribution to our world. We believe that our current laws, and the way they are being implemented, are impeding the work of the church and challenging our effectiveness into the future.
I have no doubt that many will come to this book with different backgrounds and agendas; nevertheless it is squarely addressed to Christians and the churches. This book should be seen as a call to arms , where our weapons are not weapons that hurt and destroy, but those that rely on truth, good will to all, and a deep faith in a Lord who calls us to follow him.
It has been a great pleasure to write this book with Andrew, my son. I want to acknowledge the tremendous contribution - indeed, the lion s share - he has made. We are grateful to friends and family who have added to this book and who, in so doing, have strengthened its argument. Pride of place must go to our friend Barry Smith for his constant encouragement and, at times, gentle bullying. The Revd Dr Alistair MacDonald-Radcliff and Mr Michael Poole, Visiting Research Fellow in Science and Religion at King s College London, have helpfully taken a look at various chapters, as have Andrea Williams and Paul Diamond. We are indebted to Tony Collins of Monarch Books for his patience, advice, and guidance.
CHAPTER ONE
LIVING IN CRITICAL TIMES

My decision to write this book was made on a precise date. It was 29 April 2010, when Lord Justice Laws ruling in the case of Gary McFarlane (who had been dismissed from relationship counselling agency Relate because he refused to counsel a same-sex couple) declared: We do not live in a society where all the people share uniform religious beliefs. The precepts of any one religion - any belief system - cannot by force of their religious origins, sound any louder in the general law than the precepts of any other. If they did, those out in the cold would be less than citizens, and our constitution would be on the way to a theocracy, which is of necessity autocratic.
As I read those words I realized how different my world view is from that of this learned judge and, at the same time, how ill-informed he was about the Christian tradition - and even less informed about the way that the Christian faith is woven into the history, culture, ethics, laws, and political life of the United Kingdom.
The curious thing is that in my witness statement (which Lord Justice Laws rejected) there was nothing that contradicted his words.
This witness statement arose out of my own sense of frustration on the part of some good Christian people, who had been dealt with harshly. I too am not arguing for a theocracy. Indeed, I am entirely at one with Lord Justice Laws in people having the same rights and being subject to the same laws. My objection to his ruling that led to the dismissal of a good man who had been a very good Relate counsellor for some years, is that it was now evident that if a person were a Christian and sought to live her or his life by Christian principles in the workplace, they would not get fair treatment. The interesting, yet very disturbing thing about Lord Justice Laws presuppositions was that he assumed that the Christian faith had nothing to say about justice today and could be dismissed with remarks that bordered on the contemptuous.
As I read Justice Laws summary I thought back to the Queen s Coronation in 1953 where the Queen was presented with a Bible: To keep your Majesty ever mindful of the Law and the Gospel as the rule for the whole of life and government of Christian princes. Those powerful and precise words were not designed as a commitment binding on the young Queen alone; they were intended to signal that what our country stood for was a commitment to Christian values and teaching that stemmed from our foundational document. From 2 June 1953 to 30 April 2010, rather than the UK growing in greatness, we have witnessed a slow decline in moral values and a loss of memory regarding our indebtedness to Christian truth.
But it is all so puzzling. How is it possible that, in a country which has an established Church and a Queen who by tradition defends the faith , that Christianity is being squeezed out or marginalized? Yet that very question dominates the pages of tabloid newspapers annually as they reveal yet more stories of nativity plays banned in schools; Seasons Greetings replacing Happy Christmas on the cards of political leaders; and the switching on of Winter lights rather than Christmas lights by twitchy local authorities. These may seem trivial examples, yet the same question was to dominate a BBC documentary by the well-known broadcaster, Nicky Campbell, in April 2010 under the title Are Christians Being Persecuted? While he concluded that persecution was too large a word for what was happening, he nevertheless pointed to a series of running skirmishes between Church and State, and the worrying signs of entrenched cultural warfare between the State s official religion, and the State itself.
We should avoid the word persecution because what Christians face in Britain does not have that aspect of suffering for one s faith that many experience abroad - sadly, many in Muslim countries. Discrimination is a more accurate word, but for those who have lost their jobs because they have stood up for their Christian convictions it is entirely natural for them to feel that their experience is one of persecut