As a rule, I tend to avoid newspapers. I occasionally watch the news in the background at work, and I keep up to date with worldwide affairs via twitter postings from the major news channels; but when it comes to flicking through the detritus of the British media, I try to stay well away. I don’t care which footballer slept with which other footballer’s wife, nor do I care which reality television ‘celebrity’ is in rehab; crying over their recent breakup with some equally vacuous television personality. However, as you can guess from my demeanour and opinions; the headline shown above did grab my attention today, and I decided to give it a quick glance, to see if it was as ignorant and insulting as I had already assumed it would be.

I was wrong. It was worse.

A main focus of the story, was recapping the apparent “assault on Britain’s Christian heritage”. The following is a genuine excerpt from the article.

In an article for the Daily Mail, Lord Carey (The former Archbishop of Canturbury) says that those who practise the faith are being pushed into the background by the country’s secular establishment. Christians are suffering mounting intolerance as the country becomes ‘enslaved to multiculturalism, political correctness and so-called equal rights’, he said. Lord Carey urged Prime Minister David Cameron to safeguard Britain’s ‘founding Chritian Traditions’.

Now, you’re surely wondering what atrocity has caused this melodrama, what persecutory action has caused this appeal against apparent marginalisation.

The appeal court ruled that two Christian [hotel] owners broke the law by refusing to allow a gay couple to stay in a double room.

Essentially, the essence of this story is that Christians are claiming that they have been refused the right to refuse the rights of other people. They claim that their new-found inability to persecute minorities is in itself, a form of persecution. Well, here’s my thoughts on the matter, and I don’t mean to be offensive when I say this; but modern Christians have no concept of what it means to be truly persecuted. Christianity is the largest religion in existence, and influences 70% of the population of Britain. It holds sway over 33% of the entire planet, and has more influence and stronger footing than any other organisation or community. In almost any walk of life, they will never have the right to feel marginalised or repressed, not like the gay or lesbian communities that they outspokenly condemn to hell, nor like those with an atheistic mentality like myself, who get accused of having an influence that corrupts and destroys the morals of humanity.

The other opinions of the article were that it was not in the best interests of the nation, for the church and the state to become increasingly seperate. This is a sentiment that I wholeheartedly disagree with.

The essence of a government is about fairness, freedom, and universal justice and equality for the people it cares for. The only logical form of government therefore, is a government without enemies. Atheism has no enemies. Excusing the extremists that can be found in any way of life and do not represent the community as a whole, it is a way of thinking that has no need to bear any ill will to any group of people. It is therefore, the most balanced of any governing mindset. Christianity has ‘grey area’ issues with not only homosexuality or race, but by definition, any other form of religious belief. These are issues and opinions that have no place in the ideal notion of what a governing body should be. My point isn’t that religion shouldn’t exist: That may be my personal view, but it’s not what I’m trying to convey. My point, is that a system that is responsible for the care and supervision of a widely diverse community, should look at every one of its constituents in exactly the same respect. This however, goes against the natural dogma of almost any and all forms of western religion.

I mean no offense in my writing. I have nothing but patience and compassion for every person who exercise their fundamental right to hold true and believe in anything that gives them peace and purpose. That being said, the main objective of any government should be providing its people with a universal sense of peace, equality and freedom, and any group that virtually mandates persecution of anyone but its own followers, is no basis to provide that harmony. You can keep the church, you can keep its practices, ideals and rules; but you must understand that they have no place in a fair and just form of government.