The Godless Delusion

Stuck in Bank Holiday traffic, motorists need a distraction. A newspaper letter about the UK not being a Christian country was, therefore, a godsend. Radio programmes kept delayed listeners updated. Easter, it seems, is a good time to do God.

The row started after David Cameron wrote in the 'Church Times' that Britain should be ‘more confident about our status as a Christian country’. He also pointed out that ‘we should be confident in standing up to defend’ Christian values. In response, 56 people - including members of the British Humanist Association - defended their position in a letter to 'The Daily Telegraph'. Their purpose was to ‘object to his characterisation of Britain as a “Christian country” and the negative consequences for politics and society that this engenders’.

Subsequent claims and counterclaims have focused on statistics - ranging from the number of charities founded by non-Christians to the numbers of children attending church schools - and history, where the letter-writers are accused of being deluded.

How accurate a picture of Christianity, though, are the protagonists drawing? Church schools are not sausage machines, churning out little Christians. Christians rejoice that - unlike in some countries - they, along with people of all faiths and none, will not be imprisoned for their beliefs. Britain has some laws that offend many Christians, but nobody is calling for the imposition of theocracy. Equally, biblical Christianity is more than doing good, winning a numbers game or cultural mood music. It is not a contest of celebrity endorsement.

Following Jesus Christ means making a personal faith commitment that affects every aspect of life. No individual or state can convert anyone or assume faith for another. True conversion does not happen at the point of a gun or the blade of a scimitar. Conversion is an act of God in an individual’s life. It is people who are - or are not - Christian.

UK & Ireland War Cry 3 May 2014