Posted on 11/24/2007 8:28:41 PM PST by PotatoHeadMick
Tony blair has sparked controversy by claiming that people who speak about their religious faith can be viewed by society as "nutters".
The former prime minister's comments came as he admitted for the first time that his faith was "hugely important" in influencing his decisions during his decade in power at Number 10, including going to war with Iraq in 2003.
Mr Blair complained that he had been unable to follow the example of US politicians, such as President George W. Bush, in being open about his faith because people in Britain regarded religion with suspicion.
"It's difficult if you talk about religious faith in our political system," Mr Blair said. "If you are in the American political system or others then you can talk about religious faith and people say 'yes, that's fair enough' and it is something they respond to quite naturally.
"You talk about it in our system and, frankly, people do think you're a nutter. I mean … you may go off and sit in the corner and … commune with the man upstairs and then come back and say 'right, I've been told the answer and that's it'."
Even Alastair Campbell - his former communications director who once said, "We don't do God" - has conceded that Mr Blair's Christian faith played a central role in shaping "what he felt was important". Peter Mandelson, one of Mr Blair's confidants, claimed that the former premier "takes a Bible with him wherever he goes" and habitually reads it last thing at night.
His comments, which will be broadcast next Sunday in a BBC1 television documentary, The Blair Years, have been welcomed by leading Church figures, who fear that the rise of secularism is pushing religion to the margins of society.
The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev John Sentamu, said: "Mr Blair's comments highlight the need for greater recognition to be given to the role faith has played in shaping our country. Those secularists who would dismiss faith as nothing more than a private affair are profoundly mistaken in their understanding of faith."
However, Mr Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, has been attacked by commentators who say that religion should be separated from politics and by those who feel that many of his decisions betrayed the Christian community.
In the interview, Mr Blair, who was highly reluctant ever to discuss his faith during his time in office, admitted: "If I am honest about it, of course it was hugely important. You know you can't have a religious faith and it be an insignificant aspect because it's profound about you and about you as a human being.
"There is no point in me denying it. I happen to have religious conviction. I don't actually think there is anything wrong in having religious conviction - on the contrary, I think it is a strength for people."
Mr Blair is a regular churchgoer who was confirmed as an Anglican while at Oxford University, but has since attended Mass with his Roman Catholic wife, Cherie, and is expected to convert within the next few months.
He continued: "To do the prime minister's job properly you need to be able to separate yourself from the magnitude of the consequences of the decisions you are taking the whole time. Which doesn't mean to say … that you're insensitive to the magnitude of those consequences or that you don't feel them deeply.
"If you don't have that strength it's difficult to do the job, which is why the job is as much about character and temperament as it is about anything else. But for me having faith was an important part of being able to do that… Ultimately I think you've got to do what you think is right."
Mr Blair's opponents say his religious zeal blinded him to the consequences of his actions, and point to his belief that his decision to go to war would be judged by God.
The Rt Rev Kieran Conry, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, said last night that Mr Blair's comments echoed the feelings of religious leaders.
Mr Campbell, in the same TV programme as Mr Blair, said the British public were "a bit wary of politicians who go on about God".
[?] Save the Queen!
Multi-faith coronation for Charles (09/2006)
“Canon John Hall, the Dean-elect of Westminster Abbey, said that the traditional Church of England coronation service must be revised to reflect society’s changes since the Queen’s coronation in 1953. As dean, he will be on the committee responsible for drawing up the service.
“The coronation service needs to find the right way of including people of other faiths,” Canon Hall told The Sunday Telegraph. “It must be different in some ways because of the nature of society and how things have changed.”
Alison Ruoff, a member of the General Synod, the church’s parliament, voiced concern about the plans.
“We should not pander to political correctness,” she said. “There is no way that other faiths should be involved in the service. This is a Christian country and so the coronation service must remain exclusively Christian and we should not apologise for that.”
Seems to depend on which god you stake your life on.
Pretty much the truth here at FR as well. Mention God or the Biblical record of creation in a thread about cosmic, terrestrial, and life origins and you are instantly classified as a nut job, and open yourself to further ridicule. DU has nothing on some of the folks here.
Amen!
Happens here, too, even on FR. Quite frequently.
Sad, considering the fact that the entire American concept of liberty is based on the fact that our rights to life and liberty come from our Creator, not from any man, and that the protection of those rights is the very reason for even having human government in the first place.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men..."
Secularists will not win it.
Mr. Campbell, like many leftists, is an intolerant anti-religious bigot. God bless Mr. Blair upon his entrance into full communion with the Church of Christ.
Does that make Muslims nutters, too?
No, sorry, brits these days call them, “Master”...
mmmmmm a nutter butter peanut butter sandwich cookie
Yep they are populated by holier than thou secularists (some of whom claim to be Christians) that have bought the atheistic talking points hook, line and sinker.
Also, an amen!
To HELL with the Anti-Christians. However, Christians must start planning for success in the “New World”! This means “take care of your own”!
Mention God or the Biblical record of creation in a thread about cosmic, terrestrial, and life origins and you are instantly classified as a nut job,
But, not by all of us!
If you’re referring to the New Word Order, then there are no plans for Christians to have a part in that.
In fact, they are being written out of the plan.
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