David Cameron should be applauded for standing up for his faith

There has been a considerable storm over David Cameron’s labelling of Britain as a “Christian country”, with an open letter to the Daily Telegraph, signed by the likes of Peter Tatchell and Dan Snow, heavily criticising the move. Nevertheless, I believe that Cameron should be applauded for standing up for his faith, not derided.

First of all, let’s look at what Cameron said. I admit that calling Britain “a Christian country” is bound to attract controversy, and it raises various questions on how this conclusion is reached. However, there is surely nothing wrong with Cameron saying “the Christian values of responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, and love are shared by people of every faith and none - and we should be confident in standing up to defend them”. Furthermore, by saying that this did not mean "doing down" other religions or "passing judgement" on those with no faith, Cameron was not being ignorant.

The open letter to the Daily Telegraph stipulated “we are a plural society with citizens with a range of perspectives, and we are a largely non-religious society. Constantly to claim otherwise fosters alienation and division in our society”. If by alienation they mean offence to other cultures, then this is not necessarily the case. The Hindu council of Britain has said that they are “very comfortable” with the label of ‘Christian country’, whilst the Muslim council of Britain have said that it cannot be denied that the UK remained a largely Christian country with "deep historical and structural links" to Christianity, adding that “a sense of the sacred is to be cherished". The Muslim council also noted that the UK would be stronger by "recognising and celebrating" people of multiple faiths and of no faith "living in harmony". These councils obviously don’t speak for every Hindu and Muslim in Britain, but they are telling comments, nevertheless. A YouGov poll found 65% of people questioned said they were “not religious” v 29% who said they were, but a 2011 census found that 59% of residents described themselves as Christian; naturally, statistics are subjective in this sense.

This brings us back to the label “Christian country”. Historically and traditionally, it cannot be denied, and much of our laws are based on Christian principles. There’s no doubt that Christian numbers have declined in this country over recent decades, but does that still mean that it is wrong to assert the Christian links of this country? It begs the question of whether this fuss would have been created had Cameron retained the majority of his speech but omitted the phrase “Christian country”. Personally, I am uneasy at using such a label, and would have omitted it had I made the speech, but I’m pleased that Cameron has been proud and unashamed of his religious convictions. To the credit of the open letter brigade, they did say “it is right to recognise the contribution made by many Christians to social action” (this quote wasn’t found on the BBC website), which echoes Cameron’s words that Christians “make a difference to people's lives". It’s my sincere hope that Cameron’s speech may encourage those both with faith and with no faith to recognise this contribution more.


I’m aware that I’m at risk of attracting criticism for writing this article, but I too feel that it is important to stand up for my faith. Why should Christians be characterised and pigeonholed as radicals (which they often are)? I had a lot of time for a recent article by Lauren Wills in The Mancunion (found here: http://mancunion.com/2014/02/04/long-live-the-audacious-church/), which highlighted the positive effects of Christianity which often go unnoticed in a media which instead frequently focuses on individuals who say and do unacceptable things. Is the label “Christian country” a dubious one? Perhaps. Is Cameron wrong to shout about his faith as Prime Minister? Absolutely not. Christians should feel encouraged to stand up for their faith, be they a Conservative Prime Minister or a centre-left and liberal student like myself.