Letwin: I don't have any faith

[matgb]

Oliver Letwin MP on Question Time in a discussion on faith schools just said:

I don't have any faith as it happens, I'm not a believer

That's a Tory front bench spokesman just admitted to being an atheist on national TV.

While he remains a git, he's now at least an honest git.

ETA: After the show. I concur with Jennie, he's had a brain transplant or something, he's certainly not the Letwin of years past, he used to come across as a member of the headbanger brigade, there have always been sane members of the Conservative and Unionist Party, but I never pegged him as one of them.

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Is it wrong that the geek in me really likes the way the curve on the blockquote CSS works with the transparency on the icon?

Comments

[silentgreeneyes.livejournal.com]

it is rather shiney how the blockquote works with the A..

[0ct0pus.livejournal.com]

Can't be just me who misheard that as "I don't have any soul"?

[matgb]

I think it might be, yes. Sorry. Ear test needed?

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure some of the Old Labour lot are members of the "no sky-fairy club". But they're nowhere near the front benches these days.

[matgb]

Oh, there are a bunch of Labour types that are open about lack of faith, there've been af ew in the cabinet even recently.

But the same isn't true of Tories, especially not front benchers.

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are all dead, Tony Banks and Mo Mowlam. Turns out that Alistair Campbell is an atheist too. (Robin Cook doesn't really count, because he never really discussed it.)

[matgb]

Off the top of my head, John Reid is an old stalinist and a definite atheist. Also a git, but you can't have everything. The list on the BHA site is quite long:
http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentviewarticle.asp?article=1162

Rhodri is Welsh first minister, Nick Brown was in the cabinet. But I don't see any Tories I recognise. Which is my main surprise, a big chunk of the Tory backwoods are Cornerstone "faith flag and family" types, to have a frontbencher who rejects that wordlview completely is a little strange.

Then, he has got a PhD in philosophy apparently.

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

I plead not being actively involved in politics as my defense for not knowing this sort of thing. I suppose its partly that the strong atheists aren't necessarily particularly vocal about it, in a "I don't believe in God, so I don't actually spend any time thinking about this" kind of way, and you only find out if they're asked a direct question, as opposed to the "As a Christian I..." brigade who feel the need to wave their faith about at every opportunity.

[davidnm.livejournal.com]

Oliver Letwin's done something I approve of?? Crikey. I didn't think much of him even back during my misguided Tory-voting phase ... I suppose this must be the exception that proves the rule.

[matgb]

I concur. He was always near the top of the git list back in the day, and even now I'm fairly serious about the anti-Labour tactical thing I still have problems with him.

But I found I agreed with him too often last night, which was worrying.

[paulgregory.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I dislike the broad use of "atheist" to cover all non-believers, and am uneasy giving someone a label they don't use themselves. (Except "Tory", obviously.)

I understand the Out Campaign's motivation in getting all non-believers under one umbrella, but I really don't agree with pushing people under it who may prefer to be in a politically acceptable grey area.

As two of the things that most annoy me about religions is the insistence that they are right and their proselytisation, I find it daft to identify with atheism under the terms of the Out Campaign.

I see that other followers of Dawkins find no distinction between non-believer and atheist.

To me, the whole array of possible subtypes of non-believer cover three questions - whether you have faith in an unproven, what that unproven is, and how certain you are that you're right.

I think I currently identify with Ignosticism with a tendency for Naturalistic pantheism but the trouble with all such labels is that they're often redefined over time. I might look at Wikipedia again tomorrow and no longer recognise myself in these terms.

One of the things I am definitely sure of in my belief is that whilst it is influenced by others, it should not be redefined by other people every Sunday morning.

Other than schools, pretty much the only place most people define their religion these days is Facebook. Mine there is "Truth unverifiable; what works, works."

See, the "as it happens" bit you quote is essential. Oliver has no faith. He is not defined by his lack of faith.