"Christian Country"

[J4CKO]

Couldnt be bothered replying but some twunt on FB replied to the usual anti Islam type share with

"If they support Islam they have no place in a Christian country !! DEPORT THE LOT OF THEM . back to wherever their ethnic origins"

Ignoring the fact that many Muslims were born her and go back a couple of generations, and this isnt a Muslim post so please ignore the sentiment as it has been done to death,

However, "Christian Country", what does that actually ? I am an atheist yet was baptised C of E, does that make me a Christian ?

I feel no more affinity to my own supposed religion than I do any other, I think the lot of it is nonsense and should die out but I support other peoples rigths to practice whatever mumbo jumbo claptrap they enjoy, as long as it doesnt bother anyone else.


So, is this a Christian Country or is it largely a melting pot of various religions and a whole load of atheists and agnostics ? why call it a Christian Country ?

[Dejay1788]

I would say that historically speaking, this was a Christian based country. Now? I would have thought that most people don't care and the rest are a minority of Christian, Muslims, Sikhs etc.

[EggsBenedict]

I suppose because the head of the state (the Queen) is also the head of the church (C of E). So we don't have a separation of church and state, therefore....

[GetCarter]

Well if it is Christian, only 1 in 60 are prepared to practice what they preach.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/chur...

[Fozziebear]

Christian country due to us having a historic religion embedded with the Church of England. The population doesn't have to follow it anymore under fear of reprisals if they didn't.

[J4CKO]

GetCarter said:

Well if it is Christian, only 1 in 60 are prepared to practice what they preach.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/chur...

Indeed, I have asked the poster I mentioned whether he is a practising Christian, I suspect it is perhaps a less unpopular synonym for "White British Country" used to make it sound less EDF-ish.

[irocfan]

J4CKO said:

Indeed, I have asked the poster I mentioned whether he is a practising Christian, I suspect it is perhaps a less unpopular synonym for "White British Country" used to make it sound less EDF-ish.

unfortunately I do tend to agree with you - I think that it is shorthand for WBC (mind you you could blow his tiny little mind and remind him that Christianity spread from the same region as Islam.....)

[2Btoo]

Head of state who is a practising Christian
Head of state is also head of the Anglican church
Parliament prays to the Christian God before every session, as does the House of Lords
Law is based upon 10 commandments
Legal system is based upon OT principles (innocent until proven guilty, judged by a jury of 12 peers etc)

Probably quite a few others.

[GetCarter]

...also, i think most of us have grown up enough not to believe fairy stories.

Hence - OTHER 'Jedi' was ticked a lot in the last census

[GetCarter]

2Btoo said:

Head of state who is a practising Christian
Head of state is also head of the Anglican church
Parliament prays to the Christian God before every session, as does the House of Lords
Law is based upon 10 commandments
Legal system is based upon OT principles (innocent until proven guilty, judged by a jury of 12 peers etc)

Probably quite a few others.

Yea, but will do anything to keep their position and power.

[RizzoTheRat]

I guess it's hard not to be tainted by history. The UK clearly was a christian country, but as pointed out above a pretty small proportion are now practicing christians. However we are a product of our history and a large part of "core values" or whatever term you'd use to describe the British way of life is based on christianity.

I'm an athiest but I celebrate christmas, scoff plenty of chocolate at easter, and don't covet my neighbours ass.

[GetCarter]

RizzoTheRat said:

I'm an athiest but I celebrate christmas, scoff plenty of chocolate at easter, and don't covet my neighbours ass.

Both Pagan festivals of course. Stolen by Christians (like most of the free world over the centuries).

Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 29th September 17:21

[J4CKO]

2Btoo said:

Head of state who is a practising Christian
Head of state is also head of the Anglican church
Parliament prays to the Christian God before every session, as does the House of Lords
Law is based upon 10 commandments
Legal system is based upon OT principles (innocent until proven guilty, judged by a jury of 12 peers etc)

Probably quite a few others.

90 year old woman religous, or at least attends church, possibly as it is expected ?

Parliament is not a good example of praying, maybe preying, not generally a very "Christian" bunch, maybe just going through the motions int he name of tradition there, a lot of non Christian MPs about now.

10 Commandments came from the bible, basically "dont do bad stuff" and dates from a pre secular time, where religion was law

First three are telling you to be religous, meh

fourth is dont do anything on Sunday, well that one is fked isnt it ?

Dont kill, not exactly needing religion on that one

No Adultery, generally regarded as bad for, can see that

Stealing, people dont like their stuff nicked, think we could have worked that out

False Witness, no lying basically.

then several things about not coveting your neighbours stuff.




Its just the first time it all got written down !

[SpeckledJim]

2Btoo said:

Head of state who is a practising Christian
Head of state is also head of the Anglican church
Parliament prays to the Christian God before every session, as does the House of Lords
Law is based upon 10 commandments
Legal system is based upon OT principles (innocent until proven guilty, judged by a jury of 12 peers etc)

Probably quite a few others.

Are there any countries in the world that don't appear to have law based on (some of) the 10 commandments?

Isn't it actually that (some of) the 10 commandments are based on some obviously reasonable ideas, in common with national laws basically everywhere.

[J4CKO]

RizzoTheRat said:

I guess it's hard not to be tainted by history. The UK clearly was a christian country, but as pointed out above a pretty small proportion are now practicing christians. However we are a product of our history and a large part of "core values" or whatever term you'd use to describe the British way of life is based on christianity.

I'm an athiest but I celebrate christmas, scoff plenty of chocolate at easter, and don't covet my neighbours ass.

Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews or whatever have pretty much the same set of values, they are just human core values.

[Goaty Bill 2]

irocfan said:

unfortunately I do tend to agree with you - I think that it is shorthand for WBC (mind you you could blow his tiny little mind and remind him that Christianity spread from the same region as Islam.....)

Rather the opposite chronologically speaking, Islam being established in the 7th century by 'our' calendar.
I have never understood why during the council of Nicea, it was decide to include the Old Testament, being what was effectively a history of the Israelites without much change.
By 325 AD Christianity was anything but a religion of Jewish people.

Probably the strongest reason for continuing to refer to Britain as a "Christian country", is simply that we celebrate (or at least have some bank holidays based upon) important Christian events. Christmas and Easter of course.

I am sure many people, aside from many business owners, would like to have bank holidays corresponding with several other religions as well.

J4CKO said:

Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews or whatever have pretty much the same set of values, they are just human core values.

Perhaps more critically, a basic requisite for human survival as a species.
But I agree that religion can not take full credit for the basic precepts of those values.

It seems logical to presume that before Moses handed down the Commandments, that people already had some idea that killing one's neighbour and stealing his wife and ass were probably unacceptable practices.

[kowalski655]

Christian by tradition, but now most just ignore it,as not really relevant.Xmas is all about the pressies & eating for most.

The 10 Commandments jsut encapsulated good ideas for society, if handed down now they would be very simialr (maybe less covetting, more tolerance of gays)

[Goaty Bill 2]

kowalski655 said:

Christian by tradition, but now most just ignore it,as not really relevant.Xmas is all about the pressies & eating for most.

The 10 Commandments jsut encapsulated good ideas for society, if handed down now they would be very simialr (maybe less covetting, more tolerance of gays)

You just may have that last phrase (in parenthesise) a bit backwards.

[loafer123]

To me, Christian in this context isn't about religion anymore, it is about culture.

Being British, or any of the subsets such as Scottish or English, brings with it a whole lot of societal baggage, but it is our societal baggage and I hope that people who join us come to love it and embrace it too, as it will make for a more united country which embraces its differences and celebrates its similarities.

[pherlopolus]

I thought we were officially post Christian now? Less than 1m practising now....