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What’s wrong with having a secular society?

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In the wake of Baroness Warsi’s comments in the Telegraph today I feel the need to ask the question; If Britain is being taken over by an increasingly secular population where is the mandate to push for a greater role for religious groups?

The Tory Party Chairman is visiting the Pope this week, which is something of a landmark as visits are normally reserved only for Cardinals and Heads of State. She has suggest that ‘militant secularists’ deny people a right to religious life through their ‘fear of multiple identities’. I would never advocate the intolerance she suggests and believe that everybody has a right to believe whatever they want, worship (or not) however they like, but your religious beliefs are a private issue! The rise of a secularist culture is not a reason to push for ‘faith to have a place at the table’… it is quite the opposite. She talks in the article about Britain’s Christian values! Sorry but the vast majority of church-goers are pensioners and the take up in young people is constantly declining; Britian is more of a secular nation than a Christian one and will be even more so in 10 or 20 years time when a whole new generation will choose to go without. (Besides which, if it has a religion at all in the modern world, it is probably Muslim!)

She does state in the article that she is not attacking secularism per se, but fears an aspect that seeks to remove faith from public life. For me this is backwards. Your faith or religion is your choice but it is private. I don’t set up stalls in the town centres seeking to convince people that God doesn’t exist, and by the same token I don’t appreciate when others try to convince me he does. The same goes in politics. I have no problem with religion, and you are welcome to sing and shout about it at the Church Fete or your Mosque, Temple or wherever it is you choose to go, but religious arguments have no place in politics because their very nature requires ‘faith’, and ‘faith’ cannot be argued. You can’t have a serious debate over policies with a group whose arguments centres around the possible but questionable existence of some kind of almighty being; ”because it’s God’s will” is not a legitimate argument for anything in a nation where less than 15% of people attend Church even once a month and the majority are at best unsure as to His existence.

So faith is a personal choice, not a public matter. In terms of the Christian values the Baroness advocates surely it is clear that in the many cases the higher-ups in the Church (although i suppose this is largely the Catholic Church as it tends to be the loudest voice) are completely out of touch with the people. Catholicism only recently (and very reluctantly) accepted that condoms are not sinful, and in fact could help to combat AIDS. British bishops in recent weeks were amongst the loudest voices in seeking to block a welfare cap that is overwhelmingly supported by the public. Their policies towards abortion fly against a majority of public opinion (and also with practical sense). I’m certain that these arguments are based on stereotypes and on a minority of leaders whilst many are different, but that is the image that the High Church conveys to the secular world! The idea that people can live together in communities, work together to improve society and help each other; the idea that we should ‘love thy neighbour’; these things should not be Christian values they should be human values!! I very much resent the idea that religion represents the voice of morality whilst secularism is about ease and practicality forsaking all others.

I want to reiterate, before the close, that I’m not trying to bash religion or say that people are wrong to have faith. As I have said many times it is everyone’s right to believe whatever they like. What I am suggesting is that religious leaders represent too small a group to have a legitimate role in policy making, and the ‘God’ argument cannot be incorporated in to high politics. Also that what you choose to believe and how you choose to worship is up to you, but it is a private matter for yourself and for others who believe the same. Christians, Muslims, Jews and all other religious people who can go through life secure in their faith, worship with their fellows and present their moral arguments as just that, moral rather than religious,  are very welcome in public life and politics. Such morals are usually good and can exist without religious implications. However societal trends towards secularism show that Britain should be moving away from ‘religious’ arguments, not pushing for their further integration!

 


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