Prime Minister Cameron is Proud to be a Christian in a Christian Country
Video message from Prime Minister David Cameron to mark Easter 2014
"Easter is the most important date in the Christian calendar, and an incredibly special time for people across Britain and around the world. Last month I was in Jerusalem and Bethlehem and I got to see for myself the places where Jesus was born and died. It was an extraordinary experience to be in those places where so much history began.
Today, 2000 years on, Easter is not just a time for Christians across our country to reflect, but a time for our whole country to reflect on what Christianity brings to Britain. All over the UK, every day, there are countless acts of kindness carried out by those who believe in and follow Christ. The heart of Christianity is to 'love thy neighbour' and millions do really live that out. I think of the Alpha courses run in our prisons, which work with offenders to give them a new life inside and outside prison, or the soup kitchens and homeless shelters run by churches. And we saw that same spirit during the terrible storms that struck Britain earlier this year. From Somerset to Surrey, from Oxford to Devon, churches became refuges, offering shelter and food, congregations raised funds and rallied together, parish priests even canoed through their villages to rescue residents. They proved, yet again, that people's faith motivates them to do good deeds.
That is something this Government supports and celebrates, and it's why we have announced more funding for the Near Neighbours programme bringing together even more faiths in even more cities to do social action. And as we celebrate Easter, let's also think of those who are unable to do so, the Christians around the world who are ostracised, abused -- even murdered -- simply for the faith they follow. Religious freedom is an absolute, fundamental human right.
Britain is committed to protecting and promoting that right, by standing up for Christians and other minorities, at home and abroad. Our hearts go out to them, especially at this special time of year. So as we approach this festival I'd like to wish everyone, Christians and non-Christians a very happy Easter."
Today, 2000 years on, Easter is not just a time for Christians across our country to reflect, but a time for our whole country to reflect on what Christianity brings to Britain. All over the UK, every day, there are countless acts of kindness carried out by those who believe in and follow Christ. The heart of Christianity is to 'love thy neighbour' and millions do really live that out. I think of the Alpha courses run in our prisons, which work with offenders to give them a new life inside and outside prison, or the soup kitchens and homeless shelters run by churches. And we saw that same spirit during the terrible storms that struck Britain earlier this year. From Somerset to Surrey, from Oxford to Devon, churches became refuges, offering shelter and food, congregations raised funds and rallied together, parish priests even canoed through their villages to rescue residents. They proved, yet again, that people's faith motivates them to do good deeds.
That is something this Government supports and celebrates, and it's why we have announced more funding for the Near Neighbours programme bringing together even more faiths in even more cities to do social action. And as we celebrate Easter, let's also think of those who are unable to do so, the Christians around the world who are ostracised, abused -- even murdered -- simply for the faith they follow. Religious freedom is an absolute, fundamental human right.
Britain is committed to protecting and promoting that right, by standing up for Christians and other minorities, at home and abroad. Our hearts go out to them, especially at this special time of year. So as we approach this festival I'd like to wish everyone, Christians and non-Christians a very happy Easter."
Comment:
In his Easter address at a Downing Street reception, and a subsequent article in the Church Times, Prime Minister David Cameron has affirmed his Anglican Christian faith, and undertaken to be more "evangelical", and to expand the role of faith and faith organisations in Britain. Cameron claimed that: ‘Christians are now the most persecuted religion around the world’.
To some extent, the "doing God" echoes the faith position of Tony Blair:
In 2006, Tony Blair said that his decision to go to war in Iraq would ultimately be judged by God.
Ironically, Blair had previously said that he did not speak openly about his devout Catholicism because people would think he was a "nutter".
Cameron's recent statements are not overtly driven by the same evangelical zeal of Blair.
And, unlike Blair, Cameron considers himself to be "a bit vague on some of the more difficult parts of the faith".
Perhaps Cameron thinks he will be thought of as a generally more amenable "nutter" if he remains suitably vague and does not go head-on with the difficult parts.
Such as war.
Could it be merely a matter of time before Cameron also uses God to justify his role in current and future wars?
Cameron's Minister for Faith and Communities, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (a former chair of the Conservative Party), has declared the governing Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition to be “the most pro-faith government in the West”. The unelected minister Baroness Warsi, whose brief is to promote religion in politics, has said that religious groups must be allowed to provide public services without the State being “suspicious of their motives”.
There is the suggestion here that people of religion are victims - that their right to openly practice their faith is under attack.
Last week, in the House of Commons, when Prime Minister Cameron was asked about the plight of Christians in Pakistan, he said:
‘In the run-up to Easter, it is important to remember how many Christians are still persecuted around the world.’
It has been pointed out that Cameron is attempting to curry favour with the established Church, and that this is motivated by political expediency.
Cameron is depicting Christians as the goodies, and non-Christians as the baddies.
Though he has been keen to emphasise that he is in no way "doing down other faiths". Many non-Christians, even atheists, he admits, live by a moral code. However, as Polly Toynbee points out, "those who feel threatened on account of their non-Christian faith won't find Christian branding reassuring."
The Prime Minister is going against a huge tide of public opinion that is at last starting to get the number of these brainwashed religious nuts.
Slowly but surely, people are beginning to realise just how badly they are being deceived by their leaders and teachers.
To some extent, the "doing God" echoes the faith position of Tony Blair:
In 2006, Tony Blair said that his decision to go to war in Iraq would ultimately be judged by God.
Ironically, Blair had previously said that he did not speak openly about his devout Catholicism because people would think he was a "nutter".
Cameron's recent statements are not overtly driven by the same evangelical zeal of Blair.
And, unlike Blair, Cameron considers himself to be "a bit vague on some of the more difficult parts of the faith".
Perhaps Cameron thinks he will be thought of as a generally more amenable "nutter" if he remains suitably vague and does not go head-on with the difficult parts.
Such as war.
Could it be merely a matter of time before Cameron also uses God to justify his role in current and future wars?
Cameron's Minister for Faith and Communities, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (a former chair of the Conservative Party), has declared the governing Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition to be “the most pro-faith government in the West”. The unelected minister Baroness Warsi, whose brief is to promote religion in politics, has said that religious groups must be allowed to provide public services without the State being “suspicious of their motives”.
There is the suggestion here that people of religion are victims - that their right to openly practice their faith is under attack.
Last week, in the House of Commons, when Prime Minister Cameron was asked about the plight of Christians in Pakistan, he said:
‘In the run-up to Easter, it is important to remember how many Christians are still persecuted around the world.’
It has been pointed out that Cameron is attempting to curry favour with the established Church, and that this is motivated by political expediency.
Cameron is depicting Christians as the goodies, and non-Christians as the baddies.
Though he has been keen to emphasise that he is in no way "doing down other faiths". Many non-Christians, even atheists, he admits, live by a moral code. However, as Polly Toynbee points out, "those who feel threatened on account of their non-Christian faith won't find Christian branding reassuring."
The Prime Minister is going against a huge tide of public opinion that is at last starting to get the number of these brainwashed religious nuts.
Slowly but surely, people are beginning to realise just how badly they are being deceived by their leaders and teachers.
Media Comment about David Cameron's Easter Message
Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell on Prime Minister David Cameron:
"There's a terrible, frightening lack of substance about Cameron. You can listen to him for an hour - honestly, I don't know what he's about. He loves his family. It's all so trite. You know, he's against wrongdoing. There's nothing really there. That's the sort of sense I get with him. There's nothing much in there. So a jellyfish is quite a useful way of getting it across."