Cameron's party is hemorrhaging support not just from the usual swing voters but from his Christian oriented base who are deciding if the more libertarian UKIP are a better bet to represent their positions
Britain’s Prime Minister doesn’t get a very good grade for his Christian faith. He once compared it to FM reception in the rolling Chiltern Hills, a conservative bastion containing much beauty and even more of his party’s voters.
But his recent statement that “Britain is a Christian country” has caused a lot of debate from both sides with atheists getting all bent out of shape while Christian campaigners are offended that he would put on the badge after giving the OK for his henchmen to open fire on the nation’s traditional faith.
We shouldn’t be surprised at the atheists and their various derivatives! They had falsely assumed that they had much wider representation than they do and hit back at Cameron hard despite the fact he never mentioned Christ, the Cross, or the resurrection (and it was just before Easter).
Fifty –five celebrity atheists wrote to the Prime Minister to complain as if they represented a big slice of Britain. In fact the census reveals that only one in seven-hundred identify with atheists, agnostics, free-thinkers, humanists and secularists. Regardless the fifty-five claimed in their letter that the British people “do not want religions or religious identities to be actively prioritised by their elected government”.
What the atheists lack in numbers though, wrote Colin Hart, Director of the Christian Institute: “they certainly make up for in terms of their influence and boldness. But for all their determination, they seem to be highly sensitive to the extremely mild comments made by David Cameron. Perhaps they’re not so confident in what they believe after all. It’s almost as though they are trying to suppress something.”
Hart of course is right on the money! Perception is important and the atheist crowd like to stand in the dark and do things that make their numbers sound big, creating the impression that there are much more of them than there really are. They also want to create the perception that theirs is the argument that makes sense and that most people agree with.
Atheist Julian Baggini though, an author and philosopher, wonders why his fellow non-believers are worrying about something they actually don’t believe in! And when you think about it why would you get so worked up about something you believe not to be true?
Baggini, writing for The Guardian said: “There is a clear enough sense that Britain is a Christian country and we should just get on with it. There are indeed serious objections to be made against the expansion of religious schools, automatic seats in the House of Lords for bishops or increased involvement of faith groups in delivering state-sponsored public services. These are issues worth kicking up a fuss about, not the question of whether Britain is a Christian country or not.”
Meanwhile, some Christian’s are more concerned about Cameron trying to come across as a big-time believer as elections for the European Parliament approach at the end of May. No doubt spurred on by his foreign campaign consultants it’s been decided that he should re-invent himself on the issue. That may work in America but the British are not so accustomed to accepting bold-faced lying – you have to try something more subtle in the rainy isles.
Andrew Marsh of Christian Concern responded to Cameron on ITV: “We welcome his sentiment and his statement. I think we need to recognize the political reality that there exists a huge breach of trust between the Christian Community and the coalition Government on a whole range of issues and that merely expressing this sentiment will not be sufficient to rebuild that.”
There is little doubt though that this is exactly what Cameron has in mind. His party is hemorrhaging support not just from the usual swing voters but from his Christian oriented base who are deciding if the more libertarian UKIP are a better bet to represent their positions.
