The Tablet’s reflections on our Annual Lecture given by Tim Farron

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Last Tuesday, the former leader of the Lib Dems, Tim Farron, gave the Theos annual lecture and described how liberalism has “eaten itself” by discarding the Christianity that gave rise to liberalism in the first place – especially Nonconformism. As he observed: “My experience is that although liberalism has won, it is now behaving like the established church of the empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. It has gained ascendancy and lost itself in the process. It isn’t very liberal any more … So many who declare themselves to be liberals really aren’t.”

He was a case in point. The reason he resigned as leader of the Lib Dems was that he was subjected to repeated inquisitions from television journalists about whether, as an evangelical, he regarded homosexual acts as sinful. As he ruefully admitted, no one was interested in his actual voting record; just in his inner thoughts. But he was humorous and resigned about it. On the bright side, he said, this kind of treatment is an excellent opportunity for a Christian to demonstrate the love of enemy and a chance to return good for evil. He’s a good man, is Tim Farron. My response would have been far less nice.

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