Two recent announcements made by the Conservative Party reflect how far they too have moved away from traditional and conservative Christian values. Of course, both Labour and the Lib Dems have distanced themselves from social conservatism a long time ago, but the Tories were pretty much signed up members of the ‘keep the UK a Christian country’ until very recently and could be counted on to defend Christian values on issues such as marriage. But as society has changed so have the politicians and being socially conservative no longer plays well with the majority of the electorate.

So on Sunday Michael Gove, the Tories’ education spokesman (or should that be spokesperson?), insisted that no school would be allowed to teach creationism as science. And just in case there was any confusion he went to say that this would be the case in independently run schools as well, including religious schools. This is what he said, ‘If those schools are properly regulated and inspected then we can ensure that anyone who teaches in a way that undermines our democratic values can be brought to public light, challenged, and if necessary, closed down’. For ‘democratic values’ do not read ‘they have the right to believe in what they choose and teach it to others’ rather read ‘they have to teach what the majority believe in, which is evolution’.

Then a few weeks ago in an interview with ‘Attitude’ a ‘gay magazine’ (can a magazine have a sexual preference?!), David Cameron, the leader of the Tories, said that schools should teach that gay people should be treated equally within our society. He was quoted as saying, ‘Should we teach children about relationships? Yes we should. Should we teach them about the importance of equality, whether you’re heterosexual or homosexual? Yes we should. Should we teach them about civil partnerships being a way of same-sex couples showing commitment just as married couples show commitment? Yes we should’.

All very clear and straightforward. Shame they can’t be as clear on how they’re going to tackle the massive debt the country is in. But I digress. My point in bringing this to your attention is this: where does all of this leave those who insist that the church’s responsibility is in ensuring that the laws and policies of the state should reflect Christian values? Not one of the major parties – or most of the smaller ones – agrees that Christian values held by a small minority should dominate the majority. That is, Christendom is being dismantled before our eyes. And now not even the Conservative Party will come to the rescue.

Isn’t it time we learnt a different way of doing things?