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This month Bishop Lee reflects on the pressure that Christians, and
indeed other religious faiths, are under from secularisers. The good
news is that our voice is still valued in the public arena but we need
to match our tone with the content of the message.
I am not surprised that many Christians believe there is an aggressive
secularist agenda being worked out in the UK today. There are a number
of high profile commentators and media figures who routinely criticise
the place religious perspectives are given in our society. he National
Secular Society, a group which has particularly targeted chaplaincy in
the NHS, and the British Humanist Association seem to be working hard to
marginalise the contribution religious voices can offer in the public
arena.
Militant humanists argue that Britain is now a secular nation and that
religious groups receive special privileges they do not merit. They
frequently portray religious views as irrational or fundamentalist and
the cause of endless bloody conflict. These ideas are key elements of
the propaganda of the secularists and they need to be challenged as more
rooted in prejudice than reality. According to Nigel Biggar, Professor
of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford University, one of the
principal difficulties for secularists is the plain fact that religious
belief is not going away. The majority of the population may not attend
church regularly but 1 in 10 do and a quarter attend at least once a
year. More significantly the proportion claiming allegiance to
Christianity remains high at over 50%. Even if it is difficult to fully
establish what this means in terms of faith and practice, Professor
Biggar argues it is impossible to say our society is non-religious.
The UK is not so much secular as plural, and surveys such as that by
Tearfund in 2006 clearly show that even ‘non-religious’ people think
that religious belief is a good thing. Our society is not one where
there is hostility or antipathy to belief in God.
In this respect, one previously notable secularist has been softening
his views. Since October 2001, the German philosopher and intellectual
Jurgen Habermas has begun to speak of the contribution religious
perspectives make to society. In the aftermath of 9/11 Professor
Habermas has distinguished between fundamentalist and ‘reasonable’
religious conviction. For him a respectful approach to religious faith
is needed to restore secular society; it provides the language needed to
articulate what humans instinctively value and cannot always express.
Secular language can speak of human rights but theological language
helps us appreciate human dignity.
This reference to language is critical not only for content as for
manner. The tone and volume coming from militant secularists has rarely
matched the liberalism and tolerance they claim to espouse. There is
little evidence of generosity of spirit or openness to hearing and
valuing a different perspective. Yet this can be equally true of
Christians and the Church. I have regularly been disappointed and
embarrassed by how we have conducted ourselves in arguments over matters
we feel passionate about. Too often the manner of our speaking has not
commended our Lord Jesus or the gospel.
As Nigel Biggar stresses, in presenting Christ’s truth in society we
need to ensure it is appropriately presented, being marked by qualities
such as humility, gentleness, perseverance, generosity and forgiveness -
as well as courage. We need to do our best to ensure it befits the
‘body language’ of Christ.
Lee |
