Freedom of belief is vital for democracy, a conference in Westminster was told this week.
This week on Thursday 12th March Voice for Justice UK held an important day of discussion and reflection on this nations great heritage of liberty, equality and freedom. With the upcoming 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, a rich depository of wisdom on which our society is built upon, we are strikingly reminded of the increasing loss of these freedoms for Christians in the UK today. Yet as Professor Roger Trigg (pictured), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, reminded us "All freedom stems from the freedom to believe. It is the cornerstone of democracy, the basis of freedom. You can't have freedom without it." What then is the future for freedom and democracy in the UK?
Speakers such as Baroness Cox, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, Professor Roger Trigg, and other influential Christian voices, celebrated and commemorated the liberties declared in the Magna Carta and joined together to implore both the Church and the state to relearn it's invaluable lessons. As Baroness Cox, host for the day, appealed "Let us be worthy of the heritage we have received; a cultural, spiritual and political heritage of fundamental freedoms." By this we must learn to speak out courageously, or leave to our grandchildren a broken society.
In a combined publication of the days sessions, plus other contributing authors, Wilberforce Publications, an initiative of Christian Concern, will be publishing a new book, 'Magna Carta Unravelled: The Case for Christian Freedoms', in June 2015.