Christians in Britain and the US who claim that they are persecuted should "grow up" and not exaggerate what amounts to feeling "mildly uncomfortable", according to Rowan Williams, who last year stepped down as archbishop of Canterbury after an often turbulent decade.
"When you've had any contact with real persecuted minorities you learn to use the word very chastely," he said. "Persecution is not being made to feel mildly uncomfortable. 'For goodness sake, grow up,' I want to say."
He also goes on to discuss both his legacy regarding the Church and the LGBT population (uncertainty), and the concept of spirituality in modern life, but that first comment is what I want to go into.
It's refreshing to see a religious leader who sees the difference between a loss of some minor privilege and actual persecution. Nowhere in the West are Christians being seriously persecuted. However, we still see people making serious arguments that the increasing diversity of beliefs in western society, and the subsequent lessening of Christianity's once-dominant position in the public sphere, somehow constitutes actual persecution. The fact is that there really is no such thing as institutional prejudice against or suppression of Christians or Christian beliefs in the west, and indeed, Christians still manage to enjoy a central part in British culture, American culture, and every nation in Europe and points west.
