Catholic Union Chairman, Richard Collyer-Hamlin, writes:
Do we live in a Christian country and does it matter? These questions surfaced again this week when it was reported in The Times that “well under half of civil servants are Christian” and that many declare they have “no religion at all”.
Similarly, Edward Stourton’s recent book Confessions remarks that “we northern Europeans live in a strangely…secular corner, and secularism is even more marked among journalists and opinion-formers than it is in the population as a whole.”
Most people would agree that the civil service and journalism ought to reflect the society they serve and report on.
What we do not know is whether Christians are not putting themselves forward for these careers or if they are reluctant to disclose their faith. A recent Catholic Union survey on religion in the workplace uncovered a lack of confidence among people of faith to express their faith openly.
Britain is a country shaped by our living Christian heritage. The reality may be that we are now a nation populated by “secular Christians”, people sympathetic to Christianity but for whom faith has passed by or yet to arrive.
The dreary tick box stating “no religion” sells us all short and conceals the endurance of our faith.