Britain is Clearly a Christian Nation, says Bishop
'‘I suspect that some people will find this statement offensive, but it will not be offensive to people of other faiths who, when I meet with them, often describe Britain as a Christian country.''
Contrary to the controversial statement by the second-Anglican-in-charge who said Britain was “no longer a Christian nation,’ a bishop in the Church of England argued Britain is still Christian, despite its cultural diversity.
In a brief statement to the Associated Press, the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt. Rev Jonathan Gledhill, said he acknowledges the securlarization of many of the historic institutions in his nation. Some schools, he said, have decided to abandon traditional Nativity plays and carol services for multi-faith “holiday” celebrations.
"We are told it is to protect people of other faiths, which is strange, because you will rarely hear people of other faiths complaining about Christmas," he said to the AP on Dec. 22. "The other reason we are given is that Britain is no longer a Christian country. I just don't buy that."
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Gledhill’s comments come just weeks after the Archbishop of York Dr David Hope, who is leaving his post to serve as a parish priest in next year, said he feels the British are less committee to the church and “secularist” tendencies were on the increase.
Asked whether he believed Britain was Christian, he replied: “I think I really want to question that. Large numbers of people describe themselves as believing in God. Large numbers still would say that they are Christian. How they then express that Christianity has changed enormously.”
Gledhill said otherwise, expressing his belief that while there have been attacks on the Christian definition of Christmas, the UK is still largely a Christian nation. He pointed to the results of a 2001 national census that found that 71 percent of the population identified themselves as Christian; only 5 percent said they aligned with a different faith.
"I'm not trying to denigrate people of other faiths; I give thanks for all the good things that people of other cultures bring to our country; I'm committed to a multi-cultural Britain and to working with the leaders of other faith communities.
"I'm not saying it is okay to ignore their feelings, their aspirations and needs. I am saying that, even if our legislators don't always know about it, Britain is clearly not a multi-faith country, but a Christian one
"I suspect that some people will find this statement offensive, but it will not be offensive to people of other faiths who, when I meet with them, often describe Britain as a Christian country,” he said. "What puzzles them is how we have allowed Christian standards of morality and justice to be swamped by a superficial consumerism."
The Church of England is the largest church group in Great Britain, and is the home of the worldwide 77-million member Anglican Communion.
