Christianity being 'brushed aside'
Wednesday, 1 December 2010 11:12 AM
By Ian Dunt
Britain's Christian heritage is being brushed under the carpet, the former Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
Lord Carey warned that the process was especially evident at Christmas, as local councils opted to strip the celebration of its religious meaning.
"In spite of having contributed so much to our civilization and providing its foundation, the Christian faith is in danger of being stealthily and subtly brushed aside," he said in a leaflet designed for the national 'not-ashamed day'.
"This attempt to 'air-brush' the Christian faith out of the picture is especially obvious as Christmas approaches.
"The local council switches on 'winter lights' in place of Christmas decorations. Even Christmas has become something of which some are ashamed."
The leaflet, which is set to be distributed to thousands of home throughout the country, argues that a spate of recent stories, including reports of council employees being suspended for offering to "say a prayer" for someone and a British Airways employee who was asked to remove her crucifix, reveal a dogmatic secularism gripping the UK.
Secular groups branded the campaign "more than slightly ludicrous".
British Humanist Association (BHA) chief executive Andrew Copson said: "The increasingly desperate attempts to work up a victim narrative of 'Christianophobia' by these activists have no basis in reality.
"Discrimination against non-Christians is in fact far more widespread than discrimination against Christians, and Christianity is still overly privileged in the UK."
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