In his last speech as Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams tried to put a positive spin on some depressing statistics, which suggest, to anyone not wearing a funny hat, that religious faith in Britain is in terminal decline. Membership of the Church of England has shrunk to the point where a man can be considered a Christian just because he swears a lot.
“We’ll take all-comers”, said Williams. “Hitting your thumb with a hammer and shouting ‘Christ on a bike!’ represents a Christian utterance. When people take the Lord’s name in vain, at least it’s the Christian God who’s being blasphemed. Even saying ‘Jesus, I’m coming’, when a man gets to the short shorts, can qualify a man as embracing a Christian ethos. By this reckoning, Church membership is rising”...