Morality and secularism

Morality and secularism

Christianity is pronounced immoral

A powerful, but rather unexpected attack on Christianity came from a group of people, including the writer George Eliot, who thought that Christianity was immoral.

They said that there was something totally unethical in the behaviour of a God who behaved like a "revengeful tyrant".

According to the doctrine of original sin, God was prepared to punish people for a wrong that was not their fault, just because they were human beings. What sort of God was it, they wondered, who then decided to let us off this unfair punishment because he had punished his son instead of us?

One of the first to argue this was James Froude in 1849:

The philosopher John Stuart Mill said in 1872, "I will call no being good, who is not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellow creatures, and if such a being can sentence me to hell for not so calling him, to hell I will go."

Campaigning atheists used a less subtle attack on the Bible's morality, complaining that it contained far too much violence and improper behaviour to be a suitable read for young people.

Secularism

The 19th century saw a serious campaign against the Churches by the secularist movement.

Their particular target was the state church, the Church of England, which was highly privileged.

• Until 1828 no-one could hold a public office without signing up to the beliefs of the Church.
• Until 1836 only Church of England ministers could conduct marriages.
• Until 1871 only members of the Church of England could teach at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Blasphemy

The law against blasphemy was strict in Victorian Britain.

George Holyoake (1817-1906) was the last person in England to be imprisoned (in 1842) for being an atheist. He was jailed for 6 months for a speech which included the line: "For myself, I flee the Bible as a viper, and revolt at the touch of a Christian."

Charles Bradlaugh

Bradlaugh (1833-1891) was one of the most prominent of the Victorian atheists. He edited the National Reformer, which itself was prosecuted for blasphemy, and in 1866 was one of the founders of the National Secular Society.

Bradlaugh was elected to Parliament in 1880, but was not allowed to take his seat because he would not swear a religious oath but wanted to affirm. He was re-elected several times over five years, but did not take his seat until 1886.

When he eventually took his seat he became Britain's first openly atheist member of Parliament.

Find out more

• Secularism
• Christian doctrine of 'original sin'