Western world is losing Christian values, says leading Anglican bishop
Pastor Dale Morgan
Western world is losing Christian values, says leading Anglican bishop*
By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 10:11PM BST 24/06/2008
The western world is losing its Christian values at a time when it needs
them most, a leading bishop in the Church of England has warned.
The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed the
declining importance of the church was creating a "double jeopardy"
situation where faith was being challenged at a time when society would
most benefit.
He said believers needed to "recover their nerve" and spread the Gospel
again.
The outspoken bishop, who earlier this week told those who tolerate
homosexuality in the clergy to repent, also said he was "frustrated"
that decisions which had been made in the church had not been stuck to.
Dr Nazir-Ali was greeted with a standing ovation as he gave a speech to
a breakaway summit in Jerusalem of more than 1,000 traditionalists from
across the Anglican Communion who oppose gay priests and the blessing of
same-sex unions.
He did not say that divisions over sexuality would lead to a schism in
Anglicanism, and referred to unity being a "very precious thing".
Instead he called on those in the church to concentrate on mission –
trying to convert those of other faiths and with no faith to Christianity.
Dr Nazir-Ali, who earlier this year claimed the decline of Christianity
had led to a collapse of Britishness, said: "The greatest challenge is
that of militant secularization, which is creating a double jeopardy for
western cultures.
"It is losing its Christian discourse at the very time when it needs it
most.
"Let us pray that we are able to recover our Christian nerve in the west
and make sure the Gospel is not lost, and that all that is valuable in
western culture – much of which comes from its Judeo-Christian
background – will survive as a way to enhance cultures in the west and
renew them once again."
He said he could not apologise for wanting to explain Christianity to
Muslims and to great laughter he added: "That's not the only thing I
want to do to them."
The Pakistan-born bishop repeated his claim that the church began its
decline in influence when parents stopped passing the faith on to their
children.
"Don't blame anyone else," he said.
Dr Nazir-Ali said when changes took place in society they must be
assessed against the Bible to see whether they should be accepted, and
should not just be waved through.
He said those who were attending Gafcon, many of whom like him are
boycotting the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference gathering of bishops
because of their opposition to liberals over homosexuality, were at the
forefront of a revival of Anglicanism.
"You are the miraculous beginning of a movement for the renewal of the
church."
The bishop suggested that the current structure of Anglicanism was not
good enough to deal with its divisions over sexuality, which have seen
American liberals consecrate an openly gay bishop in defiance of church
rules.
"In the crisis that is facing us we have found this [structure] to be
not enough. In the end it was based on English good manners and in our
world English good manners are simply not enough."
He went on: "I believe there are some things that do need attention.
"We need to have councils that can make decisions that stick. In the
last few years I have been frustrated by decision after decision after
decision that has not stuck.
"We cannot have this in the future for a healthy church."
Later the bishop said militant secularism often came from the state in
Britain.
He said: “Christian ideas about the sanctity of the human person at the
beginning and the end of life are being denied either on the basis of
scientific progress or crude utilitarianism, which speaks of the
greatest good for the greatest number, or leaving the 'yuck’ factor to
decide what is permissible for people.”
Dr Nazir-Ali added, returning to the theme of parents not passing on
religion to their chlidren: “Many of society’s problems particularly in
young people are related to the fact that so many have not experienced a
stable family life. So many have grown up without a recognisable father
figure.”
The bishop also disclosed that the Archbishop of Canterbury has been in
touch with him to discuss his refusal to attend Lambeth and said: “He
regrets my position.”
He also said that Anglicanism needed a covenant “with teeth” to make
sure there is not another crisis if one church breaks the accepted rules.