Is England a Christian nation? Was it ever one? Should it remain so?
A major issue in debates about religion and public life is how to encourage different religions to relate constructively. Anxieties about religious intolerance, aggressive proselytism, and inter-religious conflict abound. Behind these lurk historical memories of the seventeenth century wars of religion and the assumption that religious differences inevitably lead to violent conflict. In recent years anxieties about Islam have been a catalyst for these fears. All of which raises the question of how, in a multi-faith society, should different religions relate to each other? And related to this question is the following: are faith and citizenships friends or enemies?
Who would want to be President? It’s difficult not to after watching an episode of The West Wing (actually, I’d like to be Leo McGarry), but watching the news quickly dispels those ambitions. A week, they say, is a long time in politics. 5th November feels like a lifetime ago. On that day, in downtown Chicago, Barack Obama declared to an adoring crowd of 125,000 that ‘change has come to America’.
I deserve a great night’s sleep. Apparently. So I am repeatedly assured by a well-known bed manufacturer.
The think-tank Demos recently held a fascinating event in Whitehall to herald the launch of its ‘progressive conservatism’ project.
In the spirit of Advent, Theos has published research revealing that 52% of Britons believe that the birth of Christ is significant to them personally and 72% of people think that it remains significant culturally.
Governments use fiscal policy to promote various behaviours in their citizenry. Daniel Defoe recognised this centuries ago. “Not the Man in the Moon… not the Inspiration of Mother Shipton or the Miracles of Dr Faustus, things as certain as Death and taxes can be more firmly believed.”
The UK Parliament recently rejected the argument to reduce the upper limit of abortion for non-disabled children, despite reports that babies have a greater chance of surviving before 24 weeks. Dawn Primarolo, the health minister, essentially argued that there was no evidence that technology had made a difference to the abortion debate.[1] How true is this?
There is a much quoted Census figure from 2001. It says that 72% of the population of England and Wales gave their religion as Christianity. Only one fifth said they had no religion or refused to answer the question. We appear to be living in 'a Christian society'.