Following Stephen Crabb MP's thought-provoking Wilberforce Address on 'Faith, Freedom and One Nation', the CCF's annual lecture has received significant press coverage this week. Here is a summary of what we have read so far:
- Tim Montgomerie, a co-founder of the CCF and now a regular columnist for The Times, writes in a Times Redbox piece "Donald Trump could usefully read Mr Crabb's lecture", as it called for "people of faith to protect the freedoms of each other and of all minorities".
- In an article published by Christian Today, Harry Farley highlights Stephen's claim that "problems posed by Islamic fundamentalists could not be cured by increasing secularism which actually serves to "aid and abet" extremism".
- Rowena Mason, The Guardian's Political Correspondent, focussed The Guardian's coverage on the Welsh Secretary's stern warning that Britain's increasingly secular society pushes more Muslims into the arms of Isis.
- Isabel Hardman of The Spectator quotes Stephen's frank and insightful comments from the lecture - "so here we are in 2015, in an age when it is easier for a politician to admit to smoking weed or watching porn, than it is to admit that they might take prayer seriously in their daily life." - in her Spectator Coffee House blog post.
- A BBC News article points out Stephen's bold assertion that "watching porn or smoking drugs is easier for politicians to admit to than praying to God', as well as his warning about a 'creeping-intolerance' towards Christianity by a 'hard-edged secularism".
- The RT says secularists have attacked the Tory minister for his speech as "nonsensical" and a “shameless attempt to advance Christian privilege".