Sentamu Says Christians Should Unite With Muslims To Defeat Secularism

The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, said in a recent lecture that Muslims could help Christians fight against the “creeping secularism” that is (in his opinion, anyway) harming the country.

Sentamu said that Christians in Britain should see Muslims as a whole as allies in the “struggle against secularism”. He said: “It is my view and my experience that most British Muslims are not offended or insulted by the Christian faith, and given the choice between the two, prefer a faith environment, even one they do not share, to that of a secularist state.”

The Archbishop criticised those who attempted to remove religious references for fear of causing offence.

He said that a nation “where God’s purpose is discarded” might end up like countries in the Middle East. The recent conflict between Hizbollah and Israel had been characterised by “the cheapening of human life”.

Terry Sanderson, vice president of the National Secular Society, responded: “I realise that Dr Sentamu has a large vested interest in upgrading the voice of religion in society, but I don’t think I have ever heard such an idiotic rationale. His remarks were made before the furore over the Pope and Islam, but there was plenty of evidence before that to indicate that Muslims have no desire or intention of joining forces with Christianity to defeat secularism. Islam’s ultimate intention is to sweep Christianity away, as well as any other ideology that is not Islam. Doesn’t the Archbishop realise that his only hope for the long-term survival of his religion is a secular state? The only way to stop religious conflict becoming political conflict is to keep religion out of the state – that is to say, secularism. If the Archbishop cannot see that secularism is his best friend, he’s battier than I thought he was.”

Mr Sanderson said that in making remarks about Britain ending up like “countries in the Middle East” where life was cheapened, Sentamu should not forget that these countries are all deeply religious. “It is not secularism that causes life to become expendable, but excessive religiosity,” Mr Sanderson said. “Ask the shias and the sunnis of Iraq why they are slaughtering each other by the thousand. The answer won’t be because of secularism.”