Prime Minister, David Cameron recently referred to Britain as a Christian country. The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Justin Welby has now shared his dissenting views. According to Welby, Britain is a Christian country in history alone.
Welby said, “It is a historical fact (perhaps unwelcome to some, but true) that our main systems of ethics, the way we do law and justice, the values of our society...all have been shaped by and founded on Christianity.”
“It is clear that, in the general sense of being founded in Christian faith, this is a Christian country,” he said.
However, the falling numbers of British citizens in churches lead Welby to believe that England is “certainly not” a Christian nation.
The Archbishop also commented that there are millions of British citizens who attend services, but they are not all Christians Express News reported.
When Cameron publicly called for Britain to “be more confident about our status as a Christian country” there was instant backlash from influential Britons nationwide.
Atheist Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has supported Cameron but is calling for separation of church and state in the country.
“...having the state and the church bound up with each other, as we do in this country, I think it would be better for the church and better for people of faith and better for Anglicans if the church and the state were, over time, to stand on their own two separate feet,” Clegg said.
Publication date: April 25, 2014