The archbishop of Canterbury has accused the government of treating religious faith as a "problem" whose followers are "oddities".Dr Rowan Williams said ministers were wrong to think that religion was no longer relevant in modern Britain.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he criticised Labour for looking at religious faith as "an eccentricity", rather than recognising its contribution to society.
"The trouble with a lot of government initiatives about faith is that they assume it is a problem, it's an eccentricity, it's practised by oddities, foreigners and minorities," he told the paper.
"The effect is to de-normalise faith, to intensify the perception that faith is not part of our bloodstream. And, you know, in great swaths of the country that's how it is."
The archbishop said political leaders should be more open about their own religious beliefs – and the impact these had on their policies.
"I think part of establishing their human credentials is saying, 'This is where my motivation comes from. I'm in politics because this is what I believe.' And that includes religious conviction."
Williams also dismissed Pope Benedict XVI's invitation for disaffected Anglicans to join the Catholic church as "theologically rather eccentric".
His comments came after he urged the diocese of Los Angeles to think carefully about the potential impact on the Anglican church before it confirms a lesbian as an assistant bishop.
Last weekend's election of Mary Glasspool prompted the archbishop to warn of "serious questions" about the place of the US Episcopal church in the Anglican communion, "and the communion as a whole", a reaction that dismayed liberals who are pressing for equality of gay people in the church.
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SIC: GCUK