Any illusion that Britain remains a Christian nation should have been dispelled by two major events within 24 hours affecting both church and country.
There was the vote in the House of Commons to re-define marriage, and the day before that was the confirmation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury.
What was noteworthy about the media coverage of Justin Welby was not only how low-key it was – with some news websites scarcely giving it any prominence at all – but also the fact that the focus of the reporting was almost entirely on his views about gay marriage, to the exclusion of much else. And that’s pretty reflective of how many newspapers and broadcast organisations now treat the Christian faith more generally: they either ignore it altogether, or cover it only in the context of controversy.
When it comes to the vote on gay marriage by MPs, it has been clear for some time that this is the way society both in the UK and in other countries is heading. It is possible the bill will run into difficulties in the House of Lords – but should it be defeated there, it is highly likely a future government will bring it back, quite possibly without any of the proposed safeguards for religious groups which are currently included (however illusory they may be).
As Christians in the UK, we are increasingly back where our forebears have been in many different contexts – from slavery in Egypt, to exile in Babylon – that latter word of course becoming a shorthand way of describing a worldview antithetical to Christ. Read more
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