Religion and Belief
Cameron does God.
The PM and Christian faith.
It used to be said that there were three things never to be aired at any polite dinner table – politics, religion and sex. Well yesterday our Prime Minister David Cameron thankfully didn’t start talking about his sex life – that’s next week. What he did do was, for some, the equally indefensible and start talking about God and politics.
Mr Cameron was speaking at an event to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible at Christ Church in Oxford. You’ll remember that the self-same anniversary was the reason why his Cabinet colleague Mr Gove decided to send a copy of the King James to every school in England a few weeks ago.
Our PM admitted that he was not a regular churchgoer but still believed the Christianity and the Church of England were fundamental to British society. He described himself as a “vaguely practicing” Christian, “grappling” with big theological questions.
Prime Ministers have always and usually at least in recent times held a public distance from matters of faith, even someone as obviously religious as Tony Blair. So what is Cameron doing with this flirtation with the Divine? Is he just caught up in the mood of the season? Has he been swayed by the collective memory of Christmas Carols?
It is always dangerous to walk in the footsteps of someone else’s faith so I shan’t, but some of Mr Cameron’s assumptions need addressing.
The first is his claim that we are a ‘Christian nation’. Ideas of Christendom have a dangerous list of antecedents including the Crusades to their name, so I assume that was not what he meant. Let’s listen to the homily:
“We are a Christian country and we should not be afraid to say so,” he said. “The Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today. Values and morals we should actively stand up and defend. The alternative of moral neutrality should not be an option. You can’t fight something with nothing. If we don’t stand for something, we can’t stand against anything.”
Historically there is no denying that the majority of British citizens claimed a religious allegiance to the Christian faith and evidenced that by their attendance at worship. But is it still the case? The most recent British Social Attitudes survey which we have written about on this blog shows that fewer and fewer of our fellow citizens, especially the young, describe themselves as Christian. It might be worth quoting the key figures here:
It might be worth noting some of the findings here:
• Half (50%) do not regard themselves as belonging to a particular religion,
• Nearly two thirds (64%) of those aged 18–24 do not belong to a religion,
• Only 28% of those aged 65 and above said they were not religious,
A nation shaped by the Christian narrative undoubtedly but a nation still in the mould of faith?
The second of Cameron’s assumptions is that the moral and value base of Christianity has shaped the nation. Again one cannot doubt the historical veracity of such a statement. But there is a dangerous assumption within it – i.e. that there is one theological interpretation of the Christian story which fits all. This theological naivety, what I call the Janet and John approach to faith, bedevils politicians not least Mrs. Thatcher who famously preached to the Church of Scotland that there was no such thing as ‘society’. There is not one interpretation of what the Christian faith means for modern practice and society but many narratives. There is not one moral compass by which to direct one’s existence but rather many within Christian theology and practice.
Cameron went on to add a remark apparently aimed at Dr Rowan Williams, who criticised the Government’s policies earlier this year, by saying that the Church has a right to comment on politics but “must keep on the agenda that speaks to the whole country”.
Two things here – firstly, yes in our training work at Equal and Diverse we continually have people saying the Church should keep out of politics – but this is to assume that belief, Christian or other, is only for the sanctuary and not society, is only for personal life and not the whole of one’s life. It’s like saying to an atheist you cannot be an atheist between the hours of 9 and 5 and we will ask you to do lots of things in your workplace antithetical to that atheism.
The second point is the assumption in Cameron’s analysis that the Church has to speak to the whole country – why? Surely if the Christian message is about anything it is an uncomfortable word for some of those who hear it? Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, (unlike the Thatcher Sermon on the Mound) spoke a harsh word to those who through their actions would seek to alienate the poor, homeless and hungry. That’s not a one size fits all Gospel but one which is critical of policies which oppress, marginalise and fail to treat the least with the best. It may be that in coming months Cameron will hear a Christian voice increasingly critical of political policies which diminish the least, not least the cancer shame of the Welfare Reform Bill.
So will the flirtation with faith last? I doubt it, because Mr Cameron will realise that faith is an uncomfortable ally when one is in politics. However ‘vague’ a Christian he might be – along with his sex life – he should keep to himself.
Dr Donald Macaskill
Related reads:
Are we becoming less religious?
Should Christianity have a special status in modern Britain?
Tips on promoting religious equality.
