Christianity 'Discriminated Against by Gordon Brown's Government'

Christianity is being discriminated against by the Government in favour of Islam and other minority faiths, according to a landmark Church of England report.

From The Daily Telegraph
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones

The Archbishop of Canterbury has endorsed the report.

The damning critique of Labour, which is endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, says ministers are only paying "lip service" to the Anglican Church while "focusing intently" on other religions.

It claims Gordon Brown's Government is failing society and lacks a moral vision for the country.

And in an end to decades of tension between the Church and the Conservatives, the comprehensive study praises the Tories for their "strident" approach to combating poverty.

Instead it says it is Labour which is failing to acknowledge the breakdown in society and excluding vital religious voices.

The report urges the Government to appoint a minister for religion, who would serve as the Prime Minister's faith envoy and utilise the untapped reserves of volunteers in churches and charities.

It states: "We encountered on the part of the Government a significant lack of understanding, or interest in, the Church of England's current or potential contribution in the public sphere.

"Indeed we were told that Government had consciously decided to focus...almost exclusively on minority religions."

The highly critical report, titled Moral, But No Compass - a twist on Mr Brown's claim to have a "moral compass" - carries significant weight as it has been endorsed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and expresses the views of three-quarters of the Church's bishops.

It echoes claims made by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, last week that the decline of Christian values is destroying Britishness and has created a "moral vacuum" which radical Islam is filling.

The report, which has been seen by The Daily Telegraph, says that while the Government has tried to improve social cohesion, it has failed to appreciate the potential contribution of Christian groups to the "civic health and wellbeing" of society.

"We were told that while capacity studies had been undertaken by Government with regard to British Islam, similar studies had not been carried out for any of the UK's largest faith communities.

"If what we were told is correct, the churches simply do not register on the policy-making radar in serious terms.

"The Government has focused so intensely on minority faiths that it has failed to develop a coherent evidence base for the largest religious body in the UK, the Christian church."

The report adds: "The government is planning blind and failing parts of civil society. The government has good intentions, but is moral without a compass.

"Every participant in our study from the Church agreed that there was deep 'religious illiteracy' on the part of the Government."

A report published in 1985 damned Thatcherism for the growing spiritual and economic poverty in Britain.

But now, in a remarkable shift in the stance of the Church, the Conservatives are praised for their "genuine thirst to understand and combat poverty".

The new study, commissioned by the Church and written by academics based at the Von Hugel Institute at Cambridge University, states: "Despite many voices in the Church telling us, 'there is no difference between any of the parties on these issues,' the reality is otherwise.

"Of all our interviewees, Conservative advisors and politicians were among the most comfortable and enthusiastic regarding involving faith groups in this renewal of the third sector, and believed that Christian churches had something 'unique' to bring to the table as strong local leaders."

Eric Pickles, shadow secretary for communities and local government, said: "David Cameron's Conservatives recognise that we have to tackle a damaged society and that poverty can't be cured without the help of voluntary organisations, such as the Church which plays a vital part.

"The Church has not retreated from the difficult problems faced by many communities."

Cal Thomas on Britain's Loss of Faith

The release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the final book in the Harry Potter series, has momentarily diverted the public's attention from certain realities: The weather, which normally depresses during winter months when there is less sunlight, has been crying unmercifully on Britain, bringing what the Daily Telegraph calls "chaos and misery" as homes are flooded, flights are canceled or delayed and train and subway service is disrupted.

A government document obtained by the media reveals that Britain has nearly "run out of troops" to defend the country or fight abroad. The Conservative Party, under leader David Cameron, failed to win the first by-election since Gordon Brown assumed the premiership, coming in third. The Tories appear to have gotten the message not to mimic the Labour Party. A Tory supplement recently published in the Daily Telegraph entitled "Breakdown Britain: A Guide to Our Broken Society and How to Fix It" mainly emphasizes those issues -- family breakdown, economic independence, personal responsibility, education choice -- the Tories had downplayed in a failed attempt to cross dress as "compassionate conservatives."

Nowhere does Britain's breakdown and loss of direction appear with greater clarity than in the inconsistent ways the courts are treating faith. A nation that has had its ups and down with religion throughout its long history -- and is now challenged over how to accommodate its growing Muslim population -- appears openly hostile to anything that resembles Christianity and the dwindling number of church-goers who still practice that faith.

Three recent legal cases highlight the British establishment's growing anti-Christian animosity and spiritual confusion.

An employment tribunal ruled that a Church of England bishop, the Rt. Rev. Anthony Priddis, discriminated against a homosexual man who had applied for a position as a youth worker when Priddis questioned him about his sexual practices and a previous same-sex relationship.

The bishop said he asked the man about his lifestyle because it "has the potential to impact on the spiritual, moral and ethical leadership within the diocese." The tribunal ruled the youth worker position falls outside the religious exemptions allowed in the country's Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003.

The British media are full of stories about pedophiles, as they have been about Catholic priests, who have preyed upon young boys. In rational times, the sexual behavior of one applying for a youth worker position might seem a plausible line of questioning, but these are not rational times. The court is considering what damages to award the 42-year-old applicant.

Another case that adds to the sense of societal breakdown involves 16-year-old Lydia Playfoot. A court ruled that Playfoot's school is within its rights when it prohibited her from wearing a small "chastity ring" to demonstrate her commitment to remain a virgin until she marries. The court ruled the ring is not a "proper manifestation" of her faith. The Playfoot family must pay $24,699 in court costs for bringing the case against the school. The girl's father, the Rev. Phil Playfoot, said, "This country is tolerant of any views except those of Christians."

A society that forgets what it stands for quickly loses its ability to fight against threats to its existence. The media carry stories about drunkenness, drug use, cohabitation, spousal abuse, rape, child abuse, child abandonment and other threats to societal cohesion.

Britain is broken. The cause runs deeper than the Tories can address, even if they win the next election, which seems unlikely.

Repairing what ails Britain will require a higher power than the fictional Harry Potter, or the high courts, which are quickly removing what remains of this country's religious heritage and traditions and practices, offering nothing but chaos in their place, which will have more long-lasting consequences than July's floods.