Christians trying to don secular clothes don’t fool anyone

Editorial by Terry Sanderson
This week a group of Christian MPs published a report “Faith in the Future” which sought to provide some answers to why the British are allegedly so depressed and unhappy despite the unprecedented affluence they enjoy. Money can’t buy you happiness, they say, so what can?

Well, given that this is produced by a group of self-described Christians, in conjunction with an array of ‘faith leaders’ and has been put up on the Theos website, I’ll give you three guesses what their solution is, although I suspect you’ll need only one.

Having had the opportunity to debate this report with the authors on a few radio shows during the week, I have been interested to see the way they have presented it and, in some cases, misrepresented it. In the press release that accompanied the report there is only a passing reference to “faith”. The report itself, on the other hand, reads in places like a Bible Society tract. In the public interviews the authors have attempted to play down the religious elements and convince us that this is a report for everyone, believer and unbeliever alike.

They propose five tests for Government, businesses and charities apply to all policy decisions to ensure that not only will they not just depend on the financial bottom line, but on whether they are conducive to the happiness and well-being of society. The questions are: Does my action encourage people to develop positive relationships in their families and communities? Is it socially and globally responsible? Does it promote a climate of trust and hope? Does it promote self-esteem and respect for others? And does it encourage people to fulfil their God-given potential?

Apart from the banality of these “five tests” (what on earth do they mean and how on earth would you apply them to, say, setting the levels of council tax?) they are claimed by the authors to flow from Christian values. Oh really? So, before Christianity was invented people didn’t care a jot for their families, right? Before Christianity there was no trust or respect or hope? Well, I have a sixth test to apply: Is this report really about improving everyone’s lives or is it about bringing them to Jesus? (And no, they aren’t necessarily the same thing).

The authors of the report chide other Christians for being moaners and whingers, always wanting to ban things and claiming that we’re all going to hell in a handcart because we’ve abandoned God. Unfortunately, despite claims to the contrary, this report is no different. The first half produces reams of statistics that appear to show that we’re all going to hell in a handcart, at least emotionally, and it’s all because we’ve abandoned God.

The authors agonise about the proliferation of self-help titles in bookshops aimed at helping readers find happiness. Yet Faith in the Future turns out to be just another one of them – but it belongs not on the popular psychology shelf, but firmly in the Religion and Evangelism section.
Read the report
See also: Actually, the richer you are, the happier you will be

16 May 2008