Once again David Cameron has shown his refreshing human-ness and thoughtfulness, this time in yesterday's Evening Standard. Those who dismiss him as simply a 'pr' man are wrong. He speaks with a simple honesty unusual for a party political leader and prospective Prime Minister. Despite his wealthy background, he has a remarkable ability to connect with people and to come across as a down-to-earth guy we can all relate to. The contrast with the current Prime Minister is as stark as chalk and cheese.
The whole interview is fascinating, but I found David Cameron's remarks about faith especially interesting and encouraging. Despite our increasingly secular society, with the rise of militant secular fundamentalism as big a concern as militant religious fundamentalism, people do want to know what makes our political leaders tick. We want to know not just their policies, but their values, their character and their worldview. If faith is a component of that worldview, however large or small, I think we'd be interested in knowing about it. Not in an on-the-sleeve emotional tele-evangelist way, but in a simple, honest, understated, thoughtful but direct way. Equally, if someone has no faith, let them be honest and direct about it. And if they have faith but mixed with doubt, which if we are honest is the position of most believers, let's hear about that.
I have often thought that the difference between British and American politics is that, in Alistair Campbell's infamous words, we "don't do God" and the Americans "do God" too much. So while in Britain, Tony Blair looked disgusted when asked by Jeremy Paxman whether he and George W Bush prayed together, in America, one-time Democrat presidential candidate Howard Dean felt he had to talk about his faith more than he had previously done and was caught out when asked what his favourite book in the New Testament was. Dean said the Book of Job. God is politicised and, by some people, hijacked in America - while in Britain God is generally abandoned and derided. In America, if you are a politician without faith or with a faith that was previously understated, hesitant, quiet, you need to conjure one up quickly for public consumption if you are to have any chance of success. In Britain, it had seemed, you need to keep it quiet, as if it were something you did in the privacy of your bedroom and found rather embarrassing to admit. Both extremes are very unhealthy.
So Cameron's comments are a wonderful rebuke to militant secularists and to religious fundamentalists alike. Furthermore, he has positioned himself as a man of honesty, in contrast to Tony Blair, whose faith is sincere (I don't doubt that), but who ducked and dived on the question when in office. To be told by his press secretary "We don't do God", when clearly Tony Blair did do God privately, was insulting and dishonest. Since leaving office, converting to Catholicism and establishing the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, he has been doing God very overtly. But why not just be straight about it in office? He didn't have to go into a long sermon or bang a tambourine, but he could have simply given a straight-forward 'yes' or 'no' answer about prayer. Why look so disgusted at the question? Cameron, on the other hand, gives no spin:
"If you are asking, do I drop to my knees and pray for guidance, no. But do I have faith and is it important, yes. My own faith is there, it's not always the rock that perhaps it should be. I've a sort of fairly classic Church of England faith, a faith that grows hotter and colder by moments but...I suppose I sort of started life believing that one's individual faith was important, but actually the institutions of the church were less important. I do think that organised religion can get things wrong but the Church of England and the other churches do play a very important role in society."
I can relate to all of this very well. I became a Christian in 1994, at university, and my faith is central to my life and work. I agree with Cameron that the institutions themselves are less important than our individual faith, although I believe our faith needs to expressed in community with others. But like Cameron, am I always on a spiritual high, always in direct communication with God, always certain of His plans? No. Like Cameron, it is not always the rock that it should be for me. I have my St John of the Cross 'dark night of the soul' moments. My faith sometimes grows hotter (especially when I am with those persecuted and displaying extraordinary faith which puts mine to shame), and sometimes - usually when I get caught up in the busy-ness of life, or the trappings of western materialism, it grows colder. But is it a motivator behind who I am and what I do? Absolutely - the motivator.
Cameron tells us that he waited until he was 18 years old to be confirmed to make sure it was what he really believed. Very sensible:
"I was a good, sceptical, questioning Christian when I was younger. I liked to think it through, thinking am I really sure about this?"
He also acknowledges, in my view rightly, that people without faith, and people of other faiths besides Christianity, have just as important a contribution to make to society as people of Christian faith. He doesn't claim - as some American Christian politicians sometimes run the risk of doing - that God endorses all his policies. But in even just mentioning Jesus, he has taken a step which is very different from many frontline politicians in Britain today, and is very welcome:
But I don't feel I have a direct line [to God]. I think that it's perfectly possible to live a good life without having faith, by which I mean a positive and altruistic life, but I think the teachings of Jesus just as the teachings of other religions are a good guide to help us through.
Cameron's remarks, combined with Sayeeda Warsi's party conference speech, may be a more important contribution to the battle against fundamentalism - both secularist and religious - than we may realise. Warsi won applause from many of us when she said the following:
How appalling that in Labour’s Britain a community nurse can be suspended for offering to pray for a patient’s recovery. Or a school receptionist could face disciplinary action for sending an email to friends asking them to pray for her daughter. At the heart of these cases lies a growing intolerance and illiberal attitude towards those who believe in God. The scepticism of senior Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris driving this secular agenda has now grown to become an ideology permeating through many parts of the public sector. It’s an agenda driven by the political-elite, who have hijacked the pursuit of ‘equality’ by demanding a dumbing down of faith. It’s no wonder that this leads to accusations in the media that our Country’s Christian culture is being downgraded. For many their faith brings them closer to their neighbour, it’s the driver for their voluntary work, their social action. This scepticism against faith communities and in some case outright hostility, is both wrong and dangerous…Strong societies are built on cherishing their heritage.
So when some misguided lliberal tries to downgrade Christmas…Or a school tries to ban the nativity play … Or a child is not taught about the empire in case it offends… It’s no wonder we lose track of who we are… Conference, I am not for one minute suggesting that faith communities should get a special deal…But, I do believe they should get a fair deal: one that doesn’t discriminate, one that isn’t intolerant, and one that truly understands and appreciates religious communities… and their contribution. Forced secularism in not progressive, it is not Conservative and it certainly is not the British way…
In being honest and open about his faith, and his doubts, Cameron may open the way for a new type of politics on many fronts. In referring to the teachings of Christ, he drew the following conclusion:
Do unto others as you would have them do to you; don't walk on by. These are good and thoughtful ideas to bring to life."
They are indeed, and Cameron has approached them in a good and thoughtful way.
