Posted on 01/17/2009 6:41:56 PM PST by bruinbirdman
The Radio 2 host said that he feels unable to talk about his faith on his show because he fears how people would react.
He argues that society has become increasingly intolerant of the freedom to express religious views.
"You can't express views that were common currency 30 or 40 years ago," he said.
"Arguably, the parameters of what you might call 'right thinking' are probably closing.
"Sadly, along with that has come the fact that it's almost socially unacceptable to say you believe in God."
His comments follow the claim from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, that Britain is an "unfriendly" place for religious people to live.
Mr Vine, 43, is a practising Anglican, but says he would be compromised by being more open about his faith on air.
"Just blurting it out would be destructive," he said.
"Just because something's true doesn't mean you can say it. That's quite an important principle.
"Once I put my cards on the table about my faith in discussions, it becomes problematic."
In an interview with Reform, a magazine published by the United Reformed Church, Mr Vine says that he is forced to separate his personal beliefs from his role as a presenter.
"One of the things that I think, which may sound bizarre, is that Christ is who he said he was.
"I don't think I'd put that out on my show; I suppose there's a bit of a firewall between thinking that and doing the job I do."
Last year, Mark Thompson, the director-general of the BBC and a practising Roman Catholic, suggested that Islam should be treated more sensitively by the BBC than Christianity.
However, he also said that accusations that the corporation was anti-God were "not just too sweeping; they
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
You can add orthodox Catholics to that list, even within the ranks of our own faith. The concept of divide and conquer comes to mind when it comes to the various factions of Catholicism and the weakening of the moral voice. There are people out there who claim the affiliation for whatever reason then do not follow the tenets of the faith. We who do are considered to be "not with it" and "out of step." And to claim to really love and admire the current pope - well, that's a sure way to marginalize yourself. Seriously.
We're all under attack.
Thanks for the welcome. I’m sorry it took me so long to find Free Republic. This is a very interesting site.It is good to hear what other conservatives have to say.
I suspect that we are in for some rough sledding. I pray that the country survives Democratic control of the government.
I was Catholic for four years a long time ago. I followed my parents from Baptist to Episcopalian to Catholic. My first wife and I received instruction so that we could be married in the church. Those were a happy four years.
Then some things happened that caused me to leave the church. All churches.
Then in 2000 I retired and moved from the east coast to a Rocky Mountain state. After several invitations I attended service at a CMA church. The sermon that day was on “New Beginnings.” I have been a member of that church since then.
I have noticed bigotry against Catholics and Mormons among some of the evangelicals who attend my church. They have all learned not to express that garbage in my presence.
Many Christian churches are being infected with people who seek a more “inclusive” posture from the church. As far as I am concerned that is the beginning of the end for them.
Rick Warren just applauded Barack Obama for inviting a homosexual bishop to speak at a gathering after the inauguration. This bishop has said that he will not use the Bible during his prayer and will not be too Christian in his remarks.
I think that Rick Warren has become part of the problem. He wants to get along with everybody.
Your Eminence, with the greatest respect, if you had spent less time trying to be "ecumenical" and make the Church "modern" and "up to date" while harassing and slandering orthodox Catholics, the Church would probably be in better shape than it is in Britain.
He's been feeding the tiger of British secularism in the hopes it would eat him last, but just looked over his shoulder and saw the giant crocodile of radical Islam.
I seek no argument on how people practice their faith, only to comment that evangelicals are not alone in being persecuted and in other avenues of Christianity, even within the faith, a division has evolved. I cannot comment on Mormonism, but we Catholics who just kneel after Mass to give thanks are considered weird. It’s food for thought.
“Afraid to speak the Gospel because we’re afraid of how people will react??? Afraid they’ll complain and we’ll lose our jobs, friends? Christ must be so ashamed of some of us!”
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I’ve been thinking about that; my thinking has lead me to conclude, in part, that it’s a lack of faith and a lack of discipline.........maybe?
Why, the Catholic Church built their country and the Anglican Church destroyed it, as this article demonstrates.
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