Dr Taj Hargey, the Imam of the Oxford Islamic Congregation: "Christianity is under siege in this country. Britain's national religion has never been so marginalised and derided by the public institutions that should be defending it."
Richard Dawkins, atheist and author of The God Delusion, said: “There are no Christians, as far as I know, blowing up buildings. I am not aware of any Christian suicide bombers. I am not aware of any major Christian denomination that believes the penalty for apostasy is death. I have mixed feelings about the decline of Christianity, in so far as Christianity might be a bulwark against something worse.”
“What is happening in Western Europe is not persecution but a marginalising of faith which seeks to portray it as a matter of personal conscience only. Some examples of this originate from a mistaken but well-meant political correctness that is anxious not to upset minority faiths by seeming to ‘privilege’ Christianity. Hence the regular ‘pantomime’ every Christmas where some local Council or another absurdly gives Christmas another name....
Mgr Michel Dubost, évêque d’Évry: “I am pleased to see how eagerly the government, politicians, the press and public opinion revolt when a mosque or a synagogue is attacked. I join those who denounce such crimes. But this general eagerness makes the total silence about the churches quite stunning... Personally, I cannot get used to these desecrations... If we have to scream, we will scream. After all, we too are citizens.”
“The trouble with a lot of Government initiatives about faith is that they assume it is a problem, it’s an eccentricity, it’s practised by oddities, foreigners and minorities."
The Evangelical Alliance’s Head of Public Affairs Don Horrocks told Third Sector magazine that ministerial pledges of support for religious charities had so far come to nothing. In contrast to public pronouncements, Don Horrocks said that new measures such as the Equality Bill displayed prejudice towards Christian groups.
According to the Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone, public sector workers with faith convictions should “make different choices about their careers”.
Jonathan Wynne-Jones, a national newspaper journalist, warned that the frequent television portrayals of Christians as absurd make it more difficult for believers to defend themselves. Writing on his blog Mr Wynne-Jones warned that a spate of recent storylines in a number of soaps had sent the clear message that “Christians are nutters”.
Mr. Mario Mauro, Member of the European Parliament and OSCE representative on freedom of religion said in his own press release, "The examples shown [at an OSCE Roundtable on Intolerance against Christians on March 4th, 2009]… prove that the discrimination against Christians occurs not only in countries where Christians are a minority, but that cases of intolerance and discrimination against Christian are present both East and West of Vienna, without counting the violent persecutions which affect Christian communities outside the OSCE area… There are several types of discriminations … intentional, when discrimination is motivated by an effective dislike of Christians, and unintentional, that is when some apparently neutral government rules result in unequal treatment for Christians." Mr. Mauro concluded by recalling the importance of ensuring freedom of religion, as well as guaranteeing the right to conscientious objection and also ensuring a full participation in public life by modifying legislation that provokes intolerance against Christians.
British Labour MP and Secretary of State for Labour Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears speaks up against the "creeping tendency" of political correctness which has led to Christians being targeted for practising their beliefs: "the pendulum has swung too far."
“Asking Christians to leave their belief in God at the door of their workplace is akin to asking them to remove their skin colour before coming into the office. Faith in God is not an addon or optional extra. For me, my trust in God is part of my DNA; it is central to who I am and defines my place in the world… there is a deep irony at work here, and not simply because the first free schools and hospitals operating in this nation were run by churches in our land. ..."