‘Politics is a religion’: The argument for – and against – religion in government
| Published date | 16 October 2022 |
| Publication title | Express, The/The Express on Sunday: Web Edition Articles (London, England) |
"Politics is just another form of religion to some people... politics is a religion. They might not call it a religion, but it's their ideology that is their worldview," Farron told Express.co.uk.As a practising Christian, like hundreds of thousands across Britain, the 52-year-old follows the guidance of the Bible as best he can. It has helped politicians like him as he attempted to help map out a future for his nation – indeed, he led the Liberal Democrats between 2015 and 2017, helping rebuild a party decimated after its spell playing second fiddle to David Cameron's Conservatives from 2010.
Findings published earlier this year by Statistica found that church attendance in England had fallen by around 300,000 since 2009, taking the average weekly number of people worshipping down to approximately 854,000 in 2019. Further data, it found, showed that just over a third of people in the UK identified as a Christian, significantly down from the two-thirds in 1983. So is there a reason for religion to remain notably at the heart of government despite its seemingly diminishing influence?
"People often say, 'Alright you can have your faith, but don't bring it into Parliament with you, or decision-making with you'," Farron said. "And the answer to that is that is a lot less attractive as it first sounds as an idea, and makes a lot less sense as an idea. Christianity is a worldview, based upon our belief in Jesus being who he said he is. But it's a worldview.
"So is Marxism, so Libertarianism, so is Anarchism. It seems peculiar, and all of those ‘isms’ are beliefs, they're not absent of faith, they are faith in different things. So to say a Christian should leave their worldview, the tenants of their faith at their door, would we say the same to a Marxist or a Nationalist? Of course, we wouldn't."
Questions regarding religion's influence over governmental policy were brought into sharp focus earlier this year when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, came under fire for wading into the row over then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to send asylum...
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