David Cameron has been left facing an embarrassing situation today following the launch of the Conservative manifesto, which makes no reference to religion, faith, faith schools or the contribution of church or other religious groups to society.
It comes after an interview on Radio 4’s Today Programme on Saturday, when David Cameron spoke about the importance of his faith. He has also given a number of interviews to church groups and publications in the last few weeks speaking about the importance of religious groups in society. In a video interview for Christians in Politics he spoke of the important role of churches in "fixing broken Britain". In response, the religion and society thinktank Ekklesia warned that the churches risked being co-opted for electoral advantage.
In the run up to the election all three party leaders contributed to a book for churches setting out their beliefs, and were interviewed about the role that churches play in society. In a video interview for Faithworks released at the weekend David Cameron said “I want to see a big growth in faith-based organisations and charities” and said “I think we should celebrate them”. The book published a few weeks ago entitled ‘No Spin, Sleaze or Scandal…Just politics’ was produced by Christian MPs, and featured David Cameron speaking about the important role of churches and faith groups.
In stark contrast to the Tory manifesto Labour’s manifesto launched yesterday, states: “Faith is enormously important to millions of people in Britain, shaping their values and the way they live. We respect the importance of belief and welcome the contribution that people of faith make to our communities and society more widely. We will actively combat extremist groups who promote fear, hatred and violence on the basis of faith or race.”
Click on link to read the Ekklesia artcle
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