Church on defensive over Labour attack
Wednesday, 7 January 2009 5:31 PM
By Alex Stevenson
The Church of England (CoE) has told politics.co.uk it rejects criticism it organised a "coordinated" attack on the Labour government.
Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said she felt "very uncomfortable" about the series of outspoken attacks against the government made by senior figures from the Church of England over the Christmas period.
A CoE spokesman said it was a "very odd idea indeed to suggest this is the first time that bishops have spoken out about issues of social justice and the economy".
He was referring to comments by the bishops of Winchester, Carlisle, Durham, Hulme and Manchester during the festive break.
Taking their lead from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who said Labour's impulse to borrow its way out of recession was like an "addict returning to the drug", they broadened the Church's attacks to include the government's stance on family breakdown and poverty.
Bishop of Hulme Rt Rev Stephen Lowe told the Sunday Telegraph the government's policies were "morally suspect and morally feeble" while Manchester's bishop Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch accused the government of being "morally corrupt".
"My reaction was very much that if they felt that, why weren't they saying it when all these greedy people were making a lot of money?" Ms Stinson told politics.co.uk.
"I don't want to make a political statement but I think that intervention was extremely political. It was quite clearly taking advantage of a situation to try and get a message across which they hadn't tried to get across before.
"It seemed coordinated. I felt very uncomfortable about it."
The CoE spokesman cited 1985's report Faith in the City and 2007's Faithful Cities as examples of previous instances where the Church has spoken out.
He added: "The bishops spoke of their own accord and while of course the British Humanist Association may disagree with what they said, we would hope they would support the principles of free speech and the opportunity for faith groups and individuals to make their views known on important issues of the day, just as we would support their right to do so."
Ms Stinson does not dispute bishops' right to comment on public affairs. But she claimed religions have a "disproportionate influence" on matters affecting society.
"There's this extra weight because it's a religious view, because it's a Christian view," she added.
"People who have a strong ethical viewpoint that doesn't come from religion don't get a word in."
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