by Danny Kruger on X
Small groups of people, of whatever religion, praying in public places is fine. And as a Christian country we should allow a special privilege for churches to lead services in our national spaces, like the Palm Sunday celebration that happens in Trafalgar Square.
What we don’t want is mass ritual observances intended to claim the civic realm for another religion, or assert the domination of another culture over our own Christian traditions.
What happens in our national spaces is not neutral. People use Trafalgar Square, for celebrations and demonstrations, to make a point about the kind of country they want us to be. The Palm Sunday pageant reminds us of who we are – not as individuals (many or most of us don’t identify as Christians at all) but as a national community, with the roots of our institutions in the ground of the Bible and our most solemn communal moments, from coronations to funerals, mediated through the liturgies of the Church.
A mass Adhan held there, or in any town square, is making a different point: that Britain is not a Christian country, and that – inshallah – one day it shall be Muslim. This is unacceptable to the British public and indeed incompatible with our constitution.
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