In Defence of Militant Secularism

Last year in a speech to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, and in the aftermath of the riots that engulfed many parts of Britain, David Cameron declared Britain to be a Christian country. Today, as she leads an official delegation to meet the pope, Baroness Warsi will call for Christian values to be placed at the heart of public life and decry what she describes as the “militant secularisation” of Britain. She will say:

“For me one of the most worrying aspects about this militant secularisation is that at its core and in its instincts it is deeply intolerant. It demonstrates similar traits to totalitarian regimes – denying people the right to a religious identity because they were frightened of the concept of multiple identities.”

We’ll leave aside the irony of calling secularism intolerant on an official visit to a man who recently described gay marriage as a threat to humanity’s future. I also don’t have time to revisit Sayeeda’s own somewhat less-than-tolerant views on homosexuality which are well documented elsewhere. But the simple fact is what she is describing is not secularism.

Secularism is the belief in the separation of the institutions of the church from the institutions of the state, and the right to freedom from religious rules. A belief in secularism is not even analogous to a belief in atheism. I am a secular atheist. I have friends who are secular Christians, secular Muslims, secular Jews and secular Hindus. They all hold their own personal religious views but they reject entirely the notion of religious privilege within the institutions of government.

After all, the environment which offers the maximum freedom both for the atheist and the believer is one in which the state remains neutral in matters of faith.

Beyond the semantics, a cursory glance at the facts would demonstrate that Baroness Warsi’s assertion of a growth in “militant secularism” is quite clearly false. Has she not been paying attention to the passage of her own government’s Welfare Reform Bill, mauled in the Lords by Church of England Bishops who sit there as of right as senior clerics of our established – Christian – church? Did she not hear her cabinet colleague Michael Gove’s robust defence of faith schools, which enjoyed an unfortunate renaissance under the last Labour government?

Is she not aware that it is still enshrined in law that all schools in Britain must hold an act of collective worship every day?

Perhaps she has never attended the prayers which take place at the beginning of each day in both Houses of Parliament and, as highlighted in a recent court case, in Town Halls up and down the country.

No, Sayeeda, Britain is far from being a secular nation. If only it were!
A British state with secular humanist values at its core would disestablish the Church of England, freeing the state from the Church, yes, but also freeing the Church from the state. Unelected bishops would no longer sit in our Parliament. Religious privilege would end in our schools and religious education would discuss all faiths and atheism in a fair and balanced way. People would be free to practise their religious beliefs and would also be free from having the beliefs of others imposed upon them.

I’m thankful that amongst the religious in Britain very few actually believe in or follow the plethora of regressive laws and arbitrary commandments that exist within almost all religious texts (read Leviticus – it’s a blast). But if Sayeeda Warsi wants to try and argue with me the merits of Christian values over secular humanist ones I’ll need nothing more than a Bible as my weapon.