Illiberal Liberals
Blackburn Cathedral, Sunday 26 July 2015
Ten days ago the Lib. Dem. MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale was elected leader of the
remaining 8 MP's at Westminster. Tim Farron immediately stepped into an unholy row
with the media. The reason? It is because Tim Farron is an evangelical Christian.
The day after his election Tim Farron was up bright and early to be interviewed on the
Today Programme by John Humphrys. I was also up early to witness an appalling,
unmerited and sustained attack on this man's belief and prayer life. Farron had admitted
that he consulted God in prayer before entering the leadership contest – and this set off
John Humphrys. This was only the start. The attack continued on Channel 4 news and in
The Times leader the next day. Those pundits who follow Westminster voting patterns
had noticed that Farron had misgivings about abortion and gay marriage. Could a liberal
behave this way? Yes, they assumed, if the man was also a Christian. Would such
harrowing questions be aimed at The Pope, the Archbishop, a Muslim, David Cameron or
President Obama? Politicians can expect that sort of media investigation but on such a
brutal scale? What is going on?
We have to admit that there is strong antagonism towards Christianity, even though some
of its adherents still carry huge authority in the market-place. Alistair Campbell, Tony
Blair's Press Secretary famously said that, 'We don't do God'. Alistair Campbell may not
do God but we know Tony Blair does. Campbell was wise however. He knew, as we
also know, that the mood of society has moved away from anything which smacks of
establishment and especially religion. Christianity currently is passing through a torrid
time. Secularism has pushed it to the margins. It is as well that we have an Archbishop
of Canterbury who can speak the language of the financial market-place. Justin Welby
cannot be written off as a religious crank quite so easily as Tim Farron.
This movement away from orthodox Christianity began with the 18th century
Enlightenment. It continued to question received authority just as the Renaissance and
Reformation had done before it. With the development of science and access to further
study, everyone's opinion was valid. Freedom and equality became the joint pillars of
liberalism and Tim Farron inherits that honourable tradition. It is a major strand of
Anglicanism also, never accepting unquestionably the truths from a previous age but
rather putting scripture and tradition into that critical furnace of reason, out of which a
stronger mix emerges.
However, this liberalism is not satisfied in offering a critique of dogma. It is becoming a
dogma in itself and John Humphrys (at his most shrill) is one of its high priests. Thus we
have an illiberal liberalism today, especially in relation to faith where Christians are no
longer seen as equal. They are demeaned, seen as narrow, misguided, brainwashed.
Such an attitude – though painful for us at present – is also unfortunate and irrational for
liberalism is parasitic upon deeper truth which Christians espouse. There is no one
political blueprint to be found in scripture but it is a sure quarry of wisdom for any
politician and Tim Farron is sensible enough to consult it.
Let me leave the subject of illiberal liberalism by sharing with you an exchange from The
Supreme Court, opposite Westminster Abbey. The Deans were gathered there for their
annual conference two years ago. We were being entertained by The President. During
questions, one dean asked these senior judges why they went to Church at the start of the
Legal Year. The answer was instructive. It was because even the most senior judge
believes in a higher authority. Thank God for that. It was a pity that John Humphrys was
not present. Amen.