Christianity, for centuries the bedrock of national identity and arbiter of moral values in Western nations, including Canada and the UK, is now increasingly marginalized by the 21st-century interpretation of pluralism as a political ideology.

 Yet despite the challenges posed to the Christian world view, Christians remain active, and influential, in the public square, said two renowned scholars in a recent webinar hosted by Cardus, a non-partisan think-tank founded on Christian social thought. 

Dr. Andrew Bennett is the former Canadian ambassador for international religious freedom and current director of engagement with faith communities at Cardus. Dr. James Orr is an associate professor of the philosophy of religion at the faculty of divinity at England’s renowned Cambridge University.

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“I’m optimistic,” Orr said. “Since 2020 — the year COVID made its appearance — belief in God among 18-35 year olds has tripled. Bible sales have gone up significantly due to the influence of social media or the growth of the digital public square,” and in the UK Catholics are in the forefront of political activism.

“A disproportionate number of Christians are fighting in the trenches with me in all the political work I’ve been engaged in during the last six years,” Orr said. 

Orr is encouraged by the number of his students — some of whom were born in 2007 — who are seeking some spiritual anchor for their lives. The digital public square (social media) has been a force behind this quest, he said.

Bennett is encouraged by the burgeoning interest in the Cardus Young Professional Program, the year-long leadership development program for young Christian professionals aged 25-34 designed to explore the place of their Christian faith in their work and public life.

The reflections of Bennett and Orr on pluralism and how Christians participate in the political arena in a secular world were presented at the webinar hosted by Cardus as part of its 25th-anniversary celebrations.

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“From its beginning, Cardus has been drawing from the deep well of Christian social thought to spur the research and dialogue we believe will result in a more flourishing society for everyone. Since we’re marking our 25th anniversary this year, we’re making a special effort to get some good ideas out into the public. As part of that effort, we’ve been doing a series of webinars throughout the year to enrich the public discussion on important issues, whether it is about how Christians fit within 21st-century pluralism, the devastating effects of euthanasia or better ways to structure our education system,” Bennett told The Catholic Register.

Orr contrasted the Augustinian view of pluralism, which was rooted in a shared sense of common identity, with the 21st-century interpretation of the concept which posits a rootless, abstract sense of humanity of which liberal multiculturalism is the product.

“Pluralism today has become disconnected from its Augustinian roots which was built around the idea of a shared set of values,” Orr said. “Today it has shifted in to a mechanism for political action with a low-trust multicultural society composed of groups with radically different assumptions concerning the common good.”

The demographic shift in the UK with the speed and scale of immigration from societies espousing values that are basically incompatible with those of the host culture has caused a sense of identity crisis in the country, he added.

Citing the Biblical story of Ruth the Moabite, who followed her mother-in-law to Israel declaring “For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth1:16), Orr said a commitment to integration is necessary for pluralism to succeed. 

“Ruth is still a Moabite, although she pledged loyalty and allegiance to her new country,” he said.

Bennett referred to the situation in Quebec, where the principle of laicite (secularism) or the separation of religion and state has been established by Bill 21 and can be a further deterrent to religious expression in the public sphere. The recent prayers and demonstrations held by Palestinian Muslims and their supporters in front of Montreal’s Notre Dame Cathedral has sparked calls for a bill banning prayers and religious demonstrations in public. Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine has criticized the intended ban as a discriminatory project that would put an end to such cherished Catholic traditions as the Way of the Cross and the Corpus Christi procession.

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Both Bennett and Orr were optimistic that despite unprecedented challenges, the Christian voice can still be heard in the public square.

“Christianity always buries its undertakers,” Orr said.