Religious VS Secular: The Battle Of Britain.

 

The battle between the religious and the secular wages right in front of our eyes. In Britain, the Pope made a historic visit to try to strengthen the faith in that country.

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As protest chants go, "What do we want? A secular Europe! When do we want it? Now!" isn't exactly catchy. But it was a message Pope Benedict XVI heard loud and clear during his historic four-day state visit to Britain, the first ever by a Pope. And it was one he had determined to meet head-on by getting his retaliation in first, even before he touched down in Glasgow at the start of the trip.

But Benedict arrived in the U.K. armed with a wider message, making repeated warnings against what he claimed was a growth in "aggressive forms of secularism" in British society. It was that same phenomenon, he suggested, that led to the birth of the Nazis in his native Germany.

But the Pope returned to the theme on a number of occasions during his visit. Alongside the Queen at Holyrood House (her residence in Edinburgh) during his official welcome on Sept. 16, Benedict spoke of the "atheist extremism" of the 20th century, saying, "Even in our own lifetimes, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society." (See "The Trial of Pope Benedict XVI.")

It's a view that did little to placate the demonstrators as they gathered at London's Hyde Park two days later - where they were outnumbered roughly 10 to 1 by those faithful "pilgrims" who had come to join a prayer vigil with the Pope. "That's rich, coming from the leader of a faith that has supported repressive regimes, condemned millions to suffering through its attitude to contraception and equality, and covered up child abuse by its own ministers," said one marcher.

And the fear in the Vatican must be that the clamor surrounding the campaign for more action on abuse will not only continue to undermine the church's authority and credibility but also overshadow the battle against atheism that the Pope just spent four days trying to fight.

It is encouraging to hear how the faithful outnumbered the protesters 10 to 1. It is also sobering to think about how the abuse scandals that have rocked the church these past years is being used as a weapon to attack religion in general. Has society's’ embrace of secularism brought us dangerously close to mentalities that parallel the Nazis’ ? Will we one day have to live in fear for wearing our faith in public? Do we already?

(ORIGINAL LINK) The Pope vs. Britain's Secularists: Who Won? - Yahoo! News