Lord Patten attacks 'intolerant' secularists
The new chairman of the BBC has waded into the growing row over secularism by
warning that atheists are "intolerant" of religion.
Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Cabinet minister and a practising Catholic,
said that he felt he was regarded as "peculiar" over his faith.
His comments come amid a deepening battle over the freedom of religious
belief, which last week saw a Christian
electrician threatened with the sack for displaying a cross in his van.
Lord Patten, a Conservative peer who will take control of the BBC Trust next
month, is the highest-profile political figure to enter the debate over what
is seen as a creeping attempt to remove Christianity from public life.
But his comments angered secularists, who last night expressed concern that
his faith could affect his ability to remain objective in making decisions.
In a lecture delivered last week at Our Lady of Grace and St Edward in
Chiswick, called 'Personal Faith and Public Service: Christian witness in
the wider world', Lord Patten said he was dismayed by the attitude of
secularists to the Pope's visit last year.
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Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist campaigners, called for
Pope Benedict XVI to be arrested when he came to Britain last year over the
Catholic Church's record on child abuse, and demonstrations were held in
London to protest at state funding for the papal visit.
"Some of the arguments put forward by secularists against the Pope's
visit were lacking in intellectualism and were extraordinarily mean-spirited,"
said Lord Patten, who oversaw the Government's preparations for the papal
trip.
"I'm surprised the atheists didn't have better arguments [against the
Pope's visit]."
He claimed those who reject religious belief were hypocritical to portray
religious people as being narrow-minded given the level of aggression they
have displayed to Christians.
"It is curious that atheists have proved to be so intolerant of those who
have a faith," he said.
"Their books would be a lot shorter if they couldn't refer to the Spanish
Inquisition, but it is them who tend to have a level of Castillian
intolerance about them."
The former governor of Hong Kong and current chancellor of Oxford University,
who described himself as a cradle Catholic, said his own experience was that
people looked down on him intellectually for having religious belief
He said: "It makes people think I'm peculiar and lack intellectual fibres
because I don't have any doubts about my faith, but I'd be terrified to have
doubts."
This admission echoes the claim made by Tony Blair in 2007 that people in
political life who speak about their faith tend to be viewed by society as "nutters".
A report earlier this year, endorsed by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, warned that the Church faces a battle to prevent faith being
seen as "a social problem" and says the next five years are set to
be a period of "exceptional challenge".
Fears have been growing that Christians are suffering from an increasing level
of discrimination following a series of cases in which they have been
punished for sharing their beliefs.
Last week, Colin Atkinson, an electrician, was summoned to a disciplinary
hearing by his employers for displaying a small palm cross on the dashboard
of his company van - but eventually allowed to keep the symbol of his
religion.
However, Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said he
was alarmed by Lord Patten's criticism of secularists and questioned whether
he could remain impartial in his role as chairman of the BBC Trust, which is
designed to represent the concerns of licence-fee payers.
"Lord Patten's comments don't bode well for his position as chairman of
the BBC Trust," he said.
"He is supposed to represent all viewers, not just Catholics or religious
people and I am quite concerned that he will not be able to be objective
when religion comes into conflict with free expression in programme-making."
Mr Sanderson suggested the Conservative peer's faith could also influence his
response to debates over the amount of time the BBC devotes to religion,
which has been a recurring source of tension between the corporation and the
Church of England.
Over recent years, the BBC has upset Christians by broadcasting the
controversial Jerry Springer the Opera, which depicted Jesus in a nappy, and
commissioning a cartoon featuring an infantile Pope bouncing on a pogo
stick.
Fears have been raised amongst Church leaders that the BBC has become
increasingly hostile to Christianity, but last year the corporation rejected
calls from secularists for atheists to be included on Radio 4's Thought for
the Day.
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