Interesting to see a leading priest of the Church of England calling for cooperation with Muslims in particular to beat the secularisation of society. The Catholic Church sporadically tried to do so over the past 20 years, often angering governments. For example, the Catholic Church’s meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood to discuss combating social ills in Egypt greatly angered Hosni Mubarak’s secular administration.
The Archbishop of York has said British Christians should see Muslims as allies in the struggle against secularism.
In a speech at York Minster, Dr John Sentamu said British Muslims were not offended by Christianity and preferred it to a secular state.
In a wide-ranging speech, he also spoke of the recent conflict between Israel and Lebanon.
He said it had been characterised by “the cheapening of human life” now taken for granted by those in power.
He criticised a situation “where the deaths of innocents are regretted in the same breath as the next volley of rockets are launched or air sorties scrambled”.
He also said Britain had been damaged by the downgrading of religion and urged political parties to adopt Christian values.
He said: “As a society we are in danger of suffering from collective amnesia when it comes to considering the work of those who have uncovered the purposes of God in our history, and in particular seem to have airbrushed from history the motivation of these social pioneers who have been inspired to act by a passionate and vivid faith in God.”