The day after Nick Cleggs election as the new LibDem leader, the top story on him in the media is based on 1 word of his on 5 Live: 'no'. Asked if he believed in God, Clegg put himself at the opposite end of the faith spectrum to Tony Blair, though he made sure to disassociate himself from militant secularism in later comments.
See the link above for the full story. What fascinates me is that it's Cleggs religious views, rather than any other subject from his interviews today, that is making the headlines. Why does everyone want to talk about God (even a God they don't believe in) all of a sudden?
For the first time since Thatcher, I think we're starting to have a debate about what kind of society we want to be. Things like the place of faith, national identity, multiculturalism, environmental ethics, are all up for debate. I just hope that during this (probably brief) window of opportunity, Christians aren't timid. Whether we go forward as a secular (where faith is kept out of public life) or a holistic (where faith perspectives are seen as legitimate and positive) society depends on the debates that are going on now.
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