Claire Mathys considers whether Christians are marginalised in the UK

Claire Mathys

There has been much discussion recently on whether Britain is a 'Christian country' after the Prime Minister said so in a speech to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. Whether or not it is true, and whether it is a helpful label even if it is true, there is no doubt that the role of Christianity in the UK has changed considerably over the last few decades. Biblical principles and morality used to be taken as given, but our current social norms are often different. Where does that leave Christians today in how they practice their faith in the UK?

On one level (and it is an important one) it is easy to be a Christian in Britain. There is no persecution of believers; it is not illegal to attend Church; and there is no need to give up your citizenship on conversion. Such things and more are very real ordeals for Christians in some countries. We must keep praying for our brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution for their faith.

But some Christians in Britain have found that living out their faith has not been an easy ride. Consider the BA worker banned from wearing a cross at work; the Council worker told she must work on Sundays or leave her job; the Islington registrar disciplined for refusing to administer civil partnerships; the woman disciplined for offering another staff member a book including testimonies of people who regretted having an abortion; or the couple told they could no longer foster children because of their views on homosexuality.

It does appear that there are an increasing number of cases where Christians are seeking to be faithful to their religious beliefs and finding themselves up against the law.

This doesn't necessarily mean the individuals were right in the way they acted. As Christians we need to be sensitive to the opinions of others and acknowledge that many in society do not share our views (and of course not all Christians agree on these issues). That's not to say we should always keep our views to ourselves, but we do need to be wise about how we express them and how we act.

However the growing level of concern about the increasing marginalisation of Christians has led the all party parliamentary group 'Christians in Parliament' (together with the Evangelical Alliance) to open an inquiry into the situation and identify any challenges faced by Christians.

Their initial report published in February 2012 concluded that Christians are marginalised in some senses. They found companies, institutions and government do not take sufficient action to accommodate Christian belief. They also found that Courts have relegated religious belief below other strands of equality policy thereby creating a hierarchy of rights. The report further concluded that the 1986 Public Order Act, which bans the use of 'insulting' language, puts the bar too low and has been used to criminalise legitimate freedom of expression.

The report made some practical recommendations to the Government aimed at addressing these issues including that employers provide 'reasonable accommodation' for people's religious beliefs. For example, if an employee objects to a task required of them on the grounds of their faith conviction, such as in the case of the Islington registrar asked to administer civil partnerships, and another employee is able to undertake this just as well and has no objection, why insist that the first person does it? If no other employee were able to perform this task, then it would be reasonable for them to be required to do it.

The report also called upon Christians not to let themselves be defined by what they are against, but to speak up about what they are for and provide a positive vision for society. Furthermore they pointed out that we need to be careful in talking about the issue of Christian marginalisation not to damage the confidence of other Christians trying to live out their faith, who may think there are bigger obstacles out there than there really are.

While many Christians have faced no problems practising their faith in Britain, there is a real issue here for the few that have. We must face up to the changing times and the implications for us as Christians, rather than burying our head in the sand and pulling it out when it's too late. We need to be aware of the growing number of people who are trying to push out religion in all its forms from the public sphere, and if we don't want that to happen, we need to stand up for ourselves.

As society changes, and Christians find themselves increasingly in situations where their beliefs are counter-cultural, liberal democracy becomes ever more important. We need the freedom to do things differently to the majority. We want a tolerant society, which includes people being tolerant of us and allowing us to exercise our Christian beliefs in the way we wish. It also becomes increasingly important that we have Christians working in politics at all levels and in all parties - MPs, Councillors, local party committee members, school governors, and magistrates - speaking up for Christians to ensure they get fair (but not preferential) treatment. Let's support those who respond to this challenging but vital call.