Mr Goose Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Given the events taking place in the world, there should be a proper debate in the UK - Should we become a fully secular nation? – i.e. with NO role for religion in government or politics.. When religions seek power, they will fight each other to get it (or keep it, in the case of the C of E). This may seem an exaggerated claim at the moment, but the Church of England is no longer composed of a lot of wishy-washy types, as it once was. Now that Islam in Britain has put its cards on the table, we know it is not going to be satisfied with a supporting role. The Sunday Telegraph picked up on a report from the Evangelical Alliance "Faith & Nation" "A leading church group which represents more than a million Christians has raised the prospect of civil unrest and even 'violent revolution' to protect religious freedoms. In a startling warning to the Government, senior church and political figures have backed a report advocating force to protest against policies that are 'unbiblical' and 'inimical to the Christian faith'. The Christians' report echoes protests made by radical Muslims." There have been similar calls in the US for “sin” to be made a crime (including making homosexuality illegal again) and for only the “born again” to hold positions of political or public power. The UK report actually takes its lead from the paranoid idea that has gripped right-wing Christians that they are somehow being "persecuted" in Britain. This paranoia is reinforced by endless distorted tales of supposed religious discrimination published in papers like the Daily Mail and Express. Do Forum readers agree that the case for a secular Britain is becoming more and more urgent? Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether the environmental threats or religious ones are going to be the scariest over the next 30 years… Honk (subdued) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I thought that we already were a secular nation, disestablishment took place quite some time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plekhanov Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I thought that we already were a secular nation, disestablishment took place quite some time ago. Non-anglicans are no longer barred from holding office and so forth but I'm pretty sure the Queen is still head of the Church of England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 The queen is only the titular head of state though, she has nothing to do with actually running the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plekhanov Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 The queen is only the titular head of state though, she has nothing to do with actually running the country. I'm aware of that but that doesn't change the fact that we still have an established church, sure it wields far less power than the non-established churches in the US for example but we still do have a state religion. For example iirc Blair could have vetoed the appointment of the Rowan Williams to head of the Church. In practice the UK is one of the most secular nations in the world but the formal structure of our state isn’t fully secular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayfish Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 However, religion does influence politics. For instance, Tony Blair is Christian and holds personal beliefs such as creationism. George Bush is deeply involved in radical, fundamentalist evangelical Christianity, whether this be for votes or for personal reasons. I'd rather that political decisions were made based on rational thought and not influenced by considerations with no empirical relation to the world we live in. Having said that, the UK is indeed better than most places, many of which have some way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Being a secular nation in no way stops politicians holding personal religous ideas though. So whilst plekhanov is correct about the formal structure, in practice we are one of the most secular nations on the planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plekhanov Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 The UK report actually takes its lead from the paranoid idea that has gripped right-wing Christians that they are somehow being "persecuted" in Britain. This paranoia is reinforced by endless distorted tales of supposed religious discrimination published in papers like the Daily Mail and Express. Ones thing that gets me about evangelicals complaining that secularists are 'persecuting' them (by which they generally seem to mean failing to do everything they say) is that secular societies are the ones with by far the greatest freedom of religion. When in power theists invariably discriminate against and attempt to repress rival belief systems it’s only in a secular system where the state remains neutral on religious matters that you can have true freedom of religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayfish Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Being a secular nation in no way stops politicians holding personal religous ideas though. But these personal beliefs might influence political decision, you would expect for example some sympathy to be engendered towards those sections of society holding similar beliefs, and the opposite to be true for those with antithetical ideals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobafet Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 why change a system that works? why should we change our country to make muslims happy (see you can blame them for anything ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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