Passionate Christian Delia Smith mounts defence of religion in face of 'running battle' with 'militant neo-atheists'
By Simon Walters And Glen Owen
PUBLISHED: 23:19 GMT, 10 March 2012 | UPDATED: 11:15 GMT, 11 March 2012
Delia Smith is mounting a campaign to defend Christianity against attacks by 'militant neo-atheists' – who she claims are engaged in a 'running battle’ with believers.
The veteran television chef was prompted to make her outspoken remarks by a series of high-profile rows over the role of religion in modern life.
Ms Smith, 70, said: 'There is a running battle going on... and militant neo-atheists and devout secularists are busting a gut to drive us off the radar and try to convince us that we hardly exist.’
In the statement posted on her website, http://www.deliaonline.com – which has two million regular users – the chef added: 'I am a passionate believer but... we are somewhat under the cosh.'
Last night Ms Smith said she had been spurred into action by hearing the atheist scientist, Richard Dawkins, claim recently that religion was increasingly irrelevant in Britain.
Ms Smith said: 'Atheists have been saying that Christianity is dying.
'He [Richard Dawkins] did a survey which said we were not a Christian country, which was cheeky – and not true.
'Secularists and believers have got to work alongside each other. But Christians are alive and kicking.
'I probably will be saying more on this subject. I am concerned about it.'
Mr Dawkins had backed up his claim by saying that the proportion of people identifying themselves as Christians had plunged from 72 per cent to just 54 per cent in the past ten years.
He said the findings supported his contention that all signs of religion in British public life should be removed, along with Christian opposition to social changes such as gay marriage and assisted suicide.
'It is clear that faith is a spent force in the UK and it is time our policy-makers woke up to that reality and stopped trying to impose beliefs on society that society itself has largely rejected,' he said.
Ms Smith made her call to her followers as part of an appeal for the aid charity, the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD), saying: 'Whilst the belief battle grabs the headlines, one thing we all stand united on is hopefully our common belief in human life and human flourishing.'
Last month a judge caused fury in the Christian community when he ordered Bideford Council in Devon to stop holding prayers during official proceedings – after an atheist former councillor complained it disregarded non–believers.
On the same day, in a separate test case heard in the Supreme Court, a Christian couple lost their attempt to overturn a £3,600 fine imposed on them for refusing to allow a gay couple to occupy a double room in their hotel.
But Keith Porteous Wood, of the The National Secular Society, said: 'Delia Smith has fallen for a myth in imagining secularists and atheists are somehow endangering her faith.
'It is the Church that is destroying itself with its inhumane pronouncements and unwillingness, in some cases, to admit its own evil-doing.
'When crimes against little children are denied and covered up, people are repelled and walk away.
'Delia Smith can try to displace blame on to atheists and secularists, but in the end it is callous clergy that are turning people off religion.'
The prayers ruling was condemned by bishops and Cabinet Ministers. Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles dismissed it as 'illiberal' and personally signed an order giving councils the power to ignore the ban.
Shortly afterwards Baroness Warsi, the Conservative chairman, used a visit to the Vatican to launch an attack on the 'liberal elite' attempting to downgrade the importance of religion in public life.
Ms Smith comes from an ecumenical background, having been baptised into the Church of England and attended a Methodist Sunday School and a Congregationalist Brownie group before converting to Catholicism at the age of 22.
She has written books on religion, including a full-length book on prayer called A Journey Into God.
Ms Smith's cookery books are the second bestselling in the UK, earning her £63 million – second only to Jamie Oliver's £101 million. She has presented cookery programmes on the BBC since 1973.
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