Would Jesus demand privileged treatment? -Nov 4, 2006

By Colin M. Morris

If I were a non-believer, I don't know whether I'd be bored or exasperated at the religious squabbling going on at present. Arguments about veils, crucifixes, religiously segregated schools, Christian pleading to be exempt from anti-discrimination laws - all important issues needing calm and rational debate, but the overall religious mood at present is bad-tempered and defensive; demands for special treatment or one-upmanship arguments of the kind - 'Christians have them, why can't we?' or 'We'd be prosecuted for what Muslims are getting away with.'

I can't speak for any other religion, but I don't find it easy to reconcile Christian demands for our public rights with the spirit of the one who said, 'Don't seek the most prominent places, don't make a big display of your religion, go away and pray secretly and rejoice when you are despised and rejected.'

Of course, Christians can justly claim that historically, Christianity has shaped much of the life and character of our country, but we still come up against Jesus' declaration that he had no country. His kingdom was of another world altogether. He was an apocalyptic prophet who predicted the end of the present order and its replacement by God's universal rule. So far that hasn't happened, but his followers have to live with the possibility, and so they can never be completely at home in any society, let alone seek to dominate it.

I can understand atheists and humanists saying 'a plague on all your houses.' But the plain fact is that despite the most eloquent efforts of the 'God- is-a -delusion' school, religion is not going to go away. Indeed, it is becoming an increasingly contentious area of our national life.

Leaders of the various religions recognise this; they're talking to one another to find ways of living and working together, and that's crucial, but there is also a wider debate to be had with all our citizens about the role and limits of religion as such in our society - issues like that raised by the Prince of Wales; ought future monarchs to be defenders of faith rather than the Faith? Or what are the implications of government ministers intervening in Muslim dress matters? How far ought the state to go in trying to shape the religious identity of its citizens?

We've tended to assume that Britain is evolving slowly and in a messy sort of way towards a multi-faith society. Recent events warn us that we are in for stormy times unless we face the wider issue squarely. Put crudely: what is our society going to do about God?

© Colin M. Morris is a former President of the Methodist Conference and has held senior positions in the BBC. He was Director of the Centre for Religious Communication in Oxford from 1991-96, and is author of numerous books, including, most recently Things Shaken - Things Unshaken (reflections on faith and terror) and Bible Reflections Round the Christian Year.

Dr Morris is a frequent contributor to BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, in which form this article was originally broadcast. Reproduced with grateful acknowledgement to the author and the BBC.