Not only that they are fewer, but British practicing Christians are more and more pressured to hide their faith, in order to go on enjoying the privilege of living in a democratic, progressive and prosperous country like the UK.
Wearing a cross at work, even exhibiting one in an electrician’s van have become unofficial offences that irreligious zealots are eager to punish.
More and more – of the already few! – Christians in Britain are at risk of being put in front of a stark choice: “Take off your cross or you’ll get sacked!”.
Supervisers, bosses, co-workers or any other politically correct authorities have no scruples about threatening Christians like this, whilst no one would dare asking a Muslim woman to remove her veil, a Jew to take off his kippah or a Sikh to renounce his turban.
Indeed, that would be outrageous in a country like Great Britain, wouldn’t it? But shouldn’t the same laws the same right for Christians?
It seems that the answer is definitely negative, according to the Conservative (?!) Chameleon in office at 10 Downing Street.
For the UK Government, wearing a cross is not a “generally recognised Christian practice,” thus it needn’t be supported by the State in front of the ECHR. In a country where any wacky minority can ask for protection, Christians are defenceless…
Then why is the British monarh still called Defender of the Faith? Why is the Union Jack still bearing not one but three crosses?
And what kind of faith is that which the Monarch defends? The faith that Christianity is a relic of history whose demise should be hastened?!
There’s no doubt that being a Christian has become a deficiency for one’s employability in the UK. Unless you’re a New man, you can hardly integrate in a society obsessed with material wealth and with loathing its Christian heritage.
Just like in the USSR, when politically correct bolsheviks in Britain can’t snatch crosses from people’s hearts by brainwashing, they forcibly take them off chests.
They are probably relying on the fact that those of churches will fall by themselves. If not, one day they will take the cross down even from St. Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London…
[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]
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2 comments:
Hi Bogdan
The weirdest thing about Brit secularism is just how profoundly incoherent it is. It is a criminal offence to praise acts of terrorism and there's a 10 year prison sentence for taking a photo that COULD be useful to a terrorist. But there is wide media/political support for Islamist fanatics in the Middle East, Chechnya, the Balkans and the 'Arab Spring'.
It is true that in Britain there is a lot of foolish anti-religious bigotry, often from irrational people.
I don't know if you heard about Johann Hari. He was a fanatical atheist (yet one with little concept of logic, history or subjectivity) and yet proved his intellectual dishonesty beyond all measure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Hari
Yet the insane thing is he still keeps up a pompous twitter feed, a podcast and has hundreds (if not thousands) of fervently devoted fans.
My own view though is that he (and his followers) are laughed at by the powers that be. Hari and his followers get to feel intellectually and morally superior for their (lack of) belief. Society is more atomised, there is a growing dissonance and fear between believers and unbelievers and so civil liberties can be taken away.
Think the weird way that Britain is both afraid of and distanced from religion is possibly best highlighted in this article:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/al-qaeda-threatens-arab-spring-nations-spy-chief-223232026.html
So Al Quaeda attacked Britain in 2005? The official story was that a few youths from Northern England made explosives in a bathtub and then drove down to London to blow some people (and themselves) up.
So they know in future the Olympics are going to be a terrorist target? Sounds like they'll need even more 'security'?
So they are not criticising the 'Arab Spring' (after all who doesn't want to see a tyrant deposed? And it's 'racist' to suggest Islamic countries can't produce liberal democracy). Instead they're saying that people from Britain will fly to a country we've helped 'liberate' and then they'll fly back here and blow everyone to pieces. So we need more security.
Leave aside that they also want us to be afraid of Russia and China because an anonymous source speaks about an anonymous attack on an anonymous country. But it's much the same.
I do think that anti-Christian feeling will get worse in England before it gets better. I'm not so sure about Scotland. I don't think it's much less secular, but I do think there is more national solidarity and less feeling of mutual mistrust.
Ironically, the Dali Lama came up to Inverness recently. I've nothing against the guy, but really the event was sold out in hours. But if they went to any church they would have heard a similar message: about how wrong greed and cruelty are. Yet with more hope. Dare I even say more truth?
I guess to people of a certain age Christianity is 'uncool'. But who knows about the future? It has the vital message and that will always draw people.
Dear Gregor,
Thank you very much for your in-depth (as much as it's possible in a blog comment) description of Britain's 'incoherent' secularism.
Indeed, I also noticed a peculiar dissonance between the 'threat' of islamic extremism and a permanent 'pampering' of certain extremists that characterizes contemporary Britain.
On a personal level, my short stay in the UK (13 weeks in 2008 + one week in 2009), helped me notice two (I'd say typical) attitudes of the average irreligious Brit.
Just like Johann Hari, many used every opportunity to boast with their lack of religious belief, as if this was somehow superior to any and all religious creeds.
I wouldn't say they were 'militant' atheists, there didn't seem to be anything 'programmatic' about their attitude.
On the other hand, several chats with young people (students from Brighton) revealed a very scornful attitude towards religion.
For these people, religion equals something bad with no exception; they seemed completely unaware of any good charity works carried out by religios institutions.
All they could recall angrily were media attacks on religions. For these people, all Christianity has to do with is Roman Catholic pedophile clergy, while Islam equals 'terrorism'.
Of course, I can't say that all Brits are like this, but I wouldn't be suprised that more and more people in the UK are braniwashed, so that they embrace these attitudes.
Anyway, I see that you do have a little hope that the anti-Christian could even "get better" one day...
I may not imagine how that would be possible, but anything that is 'unthinkable' for us at a certain moment is never impossible for the Lord.
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