Oliver

Britain 'No Longer Christian,' Says Influential Liberal Think Tank
By Kevin McCandless
CNSNews.com Correspondent
November 05, 2007

London (CNSNews.com) - It's time for Britain to recognize that it is no longer a Christian nation and should embrace multiculturalism, according to a liberal think-tank favored by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Christmas should be just one of many religious holidays recognized by the government, says a report soon to be released by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

Echoing sentiments heard throughout Britain in recent years, the authors of the report say that the traditional pillars of British identity have now vanished or been greatly weakened.

Church attendance is at historically low levels, the British Empire is gone, the monarchy is far less popular and the Second World War is inexorably slipping into memory.

After interviewing opinion makers and ordinary citizens, the authors say that it's up to the government to create a new and more inclusive national identity, part of which includes honoring the diverse cultures found in Britain.

The authors warn that uncritical promotion of multiculturalism leads to segregation and abuse of human rights, but if it is done correctly, it will help bind the nation closer together.

Governments that discriminate against different cultures undermine their citizens' right to be treated with respect, they say.

The report suggests that cities should build downtown areas that promote better interaction between different groups. The government also should work on getting minorities out into the largely white countryside.

With regards to religion, bishops from the Church of England should no longer sit in the House of Lords and a new constitution could be created to defend "the right of citizens to practice whatever faith they please."

And more recognition should be given to different ethnic groups: "If we are going to continue as a nation to mark Christmas -- and it would be very hard to expunge it from our national life even if we wanted to -- then public organizations should mark other religious festivals too."

The report also calls for a new national holiday to celebrate "Britishness" and new rituals to link citizens more with the national government.

For example, in years to come, there could be birth ceremonies in which parents and the state agree "to work in partnership to support and bring up" newborn children.

Although the IPPR report has not been officially released yet, lawmakers and reporters were given leaked copies.

Members of the opposition Conservative Party charged that the report amounted to "throwing out" history and "denying the fundamental contribution" that Christianity plays in Britain.

Laura Midgley, a spokeswoman for The Campaign Against Political Correctness, said multiculturalism has been shown not to work and that the government would be wrong to accept it

"They really don't get it," she said. "On the ground it doesn't work."

Compounding the controversy is the fact the IPPR has been strongly linked with the Labor government in recent years.

Nick Pearce, former director of the IPPR, is currently head of public policy at Downing Street. The institute has also reportedly influenced many areas of environmental policy and the incoming national identity card system.

However, Andrew Denham, a politics expert at the University of Nottingham, said the relationship between the IPPR and Brown is not as clear-cut as it's been made out to be.

While the IPPR has certainly been "adjacent" to the government on some issues, he said, not everything put out by the institute has been picked up by the prime minister.

In general, he said, both the media and think tanks themselves were prone to exaggerate the amount of influence they had, and so it was wise to take it all with a grain of salt.According to 2001 census figures, nearly 70 percent in people in England and Wales described their ethnicity as white and their religion as Christian.

Westcountryman

Everything proposed in that article can feck right off.

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Manus haec inimica tyrannis ense petit placidam sub libertate quietam - "This hand of mine, which is hostile to tyrants, seeks by the sword quiet peace under liberty."

Besoeker

Much of that article is either wrong or muddled. The last paragraph is no exception.

Ethnic groups:
white (of which English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%) 92.1%, black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001 census)

Religions:
Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census)

ukpopdems

I really would like to see what questions the 'ordinary citizens' were asked

Britannist

More nonsense from the europhile and pro-Labour IPPR - a group the overwhelming majority have never heard of.

The UK is overwhelmingly Christian - although immigration has led to a situation where just 57% of those in Greater London's 32 boroughts are Christians (with forecasts saying that Christians will become a minority in the UK capital in the next few years).

If we had a decent Government (which of course we don't) - it would be promoting Christianity at every opportunity. And one seeking to ensure that Christianity remains the main and dominant religion of the land.

Britannist

Many in the unspecified category (quote above) will be Christians. At least 80% of the people of the UK are Christians (if not more). I understand that the north-east of England, for instance, is almost entirely Chrsitian (according to the last official Census) - with London allegedly having the lowest number of Christians of any part of the UK.

Anthony Butcher

It is good to see that massive scale social engineering is alive and well with the 'liberals'

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Smidgey

Indeed it is nonsense.

If we had a decent government it would not promote any religion, it would only promote freedom - which it cannot do whilst promoting a religion at the expense of other faiths and none. The combination of church and state is completely opposed to the concepts of liberty and freedom and is therefore completely opposed to the idea of 'decent government'. The only decent government is one that is (as much as possible) invisible to those living under it.

8 million of the 12 million in the unspecified catagory said they were of no religion and the other 4 million did not say (although this did include all of those who claimed 'Jedi Knight' ).

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-Georg Friedrich Händel

Besoeker

That's speculation on your part.

mkpdavies

Maybe Christians should now start demanding all the preferential treatment that is dished out to other "minorities".

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