Don't Apologize

An American named Jay, who lives with his British wife in England, sent me a lovely e-mail. They live near Winchester, where Jane Austen (my favorite!) lived the last few months of her life.

He included this article from the Telegraph:

Stop apologising for being Christian
By Simon Heffer
(Filed: 21/12/2005)

A measure of the sort of country we now live in - or fear we live in - was to be found on the front of Monday's Daily Telegraph. "Stand up for Christmas, archbishops tell their flocks", our headline read.

It referred to a co-ordinated (and many would think somewhat belated) rearguard action against the forces of political correctness by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and his predecessor, Lord Carey.

Both referred to the pressure now placed on us to ease off on references to Christmas, Christ and Christianity, for fear of causing offence to those who do not follow that particular faith. They also indicated the help they feel is being given to the process of making Christmas into a secular winter holiday by the forces of consumerism.

One or two of us took a deep breath at this, for it was a rare instance in our lifetimes of the Church of England actually standing up for something, and actually being right. It was also shocking, however, that in a country with an established Christian church, and whose Muslim population (for example) is only around three per cent, such an exhortation should be felt necessary.

Perhaps I am one of those whose feelings the thought fascists hope to spare by not mentioning the C word. In a hideous act of precocity, I saw as a child that, having tried as hard as I could, I could not believe in God. I greatly regret this, but, despite extensive reflection, I can see no reason after all these years to revise my view.

I accept the existence of Jesus Christ as a historical figure, but the Christian miracles are beyond me. I wonder, too, what the narrative tradition of history has meant to the evolution of the Gospels, and rather suspect that what we have read since the King James Bible is rather a long way from where events actually started.

So, in common with many who have suffered from the secularisation of the European mind since the mid-19th century, I must make my way down the Cresta Run to the grave without the considerable comfort of religion. However, as I do so, I rejoice wholeheartedly as an atheist that I live in a Christian culture, and I know that, in that undeniably hypocritical act, I am not alone.

Indeed, it is not just those who, like me, were born into Christian families who feel this way: so do many Muslims and Jews, and it is one of the reasons that they are so happy to live in our country and be surrounded by that culture.

Read the rest of this excellent article (I highly recommend it) here.

Merry Christmas, Jay! Thank you!