Not often that I agree with a Government Minister but Mr. Dhanda is quite right, the Christian faith is being pushed to the sidelines by a belief that to celebrate Christianity upsets those of other faiths.
Christmas is a good example. I actually heard some fool on the TV this morning who was claiming that Christianity was over represented in public life and he felt it was time that we took Christianity out of Christmas! Was this person also arguing that we should take candles out of Diwali? Of course not.
There was a very interest part of the recent television programme “The Blair Years” where Blair claimed that he had to hide his faith from the people for fear of being branded some kind of nutter. I know where he is coming from on that but I have always believed that every one of us has some form of faith or belief system. Whilst for many it is not Christianity that they subscribe to it is often religious teachings that hold the fabric of society together. The ten commandments may seem a long time ago but they do bind our social interactions together and give us a code on which most of the world’s legal systems are based.
In an increasingly interdependent world the incidence of war have shrunk, but the reasons for war are the same today as they always have been; greed, land or faith. Not having faith, or some form of belief system, will not cease the incident of war, because if it were not faith it might well be some other form personal animosity that would grow in its place as a motivation for war.
Instead of trying to ignore faith we should be putting it back on the agenda and recognise the role for good it has in today’s society.
The Church does not need contemporary Britain, but does contemporary Britain need the Church? You bet it does.”
Alistair Burt MP - during Westminster Hall debate
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