From The New York Times-
When the central heating broke down at a North London church midway through a snap of icy weather the other day, the vicar offered the faithful a choice: Attend another church for a cozier celebration, or display what he wryly called “muscular Christianity” by worshiping in a side chapel in their own, unheated church.
Perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not, the muscular, if shivery, Christians seemed to outnumber those who headed for warmer pews — an indication, some might argue, that Britain’s established state religion can draw on doughty reserves in the face of adversity.
It might need to.
In a broader debate that has preoccupied Christians and nonbelievers, some here have depicted a trend toward the exclusion of faith from public life, akin to the laïcité that offers such a stern and uncompromising separation of church and state in France.
The dispute began with a court ruling that outlawed Christian prayers at the opening of a local council meeting in the West Country town of Bideford — a decision that prompted a Conservative government minister to say he would use other methods to overturn the ban.
More here-
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/world/europe/28iht-letter28.html
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