That is according to the immediate past Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. His comments come in the light of discussions following a comment by the Prime Minister David Cameron that Britons should be "more confident about our status as a Christian country".
Part of the reason for Cameron's initial comments are the upcoming elections for both the European Parliament and in some local government areas, particularly the London Boroughs. They have however started a debate that has some echoes for the USA. You will realize that the difference is that England has an "established" church as the official religion with the monarch as its Supreme Governor. (This is not the case with the other constituent contries in the UK. For example: the Church in Wales was disestablished by the 1914 Welsh Church Act which left some remaining links with the Church of England which still cause legal anomolies.).
The other difference between the UK and USA is that church attendance is minimal - it has long been a truism that more go to soccer matches as spectators than attend Church. It's main functions are to "hatch, match and dispatch" - to provide the rites of passage for newborns, marriage and death for those who otherwise likely never see the inside of their parish church from one year to the next. A number have "found religion" in order to get their kids into the local Church of England school. (These and other faith schools must follow the National Curriculum and have thier running costs paid together with a grant towards building costs. They are often perceived by middle class parents as having a good academic record even if this is not justified by the teaching.)
In response to Cameron's comments, 50 scientists, broadcasters, politicians and writer signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph
We respect the Prime Minister’s right to his religious beliefs and the fact that they necessarily affect his own life as a politician. However, we object to his characterisation of Britain as a “Christian country” and the negative consequences for politics and society that this engenders.
Apart from in the narrow constitutional sense that we continue to have an established Church, Britain is not a “Christian country”. Repeated surveys, polls and studies show that most of us as individuals are not Christian in our beliefs or our religious identities.
At a social level, Britain has been shaped for the better by many pre-Christian, non-Christian, and post-Christian forces. We are a plural society with citizens with a range of perspectives, and we are a largely non-religious society.
Constantly to claim otherwise fosters alienation and division in our society. Although it is right to recognise the contribution made by many Christians to social action, it is wrong to try to exceptionalise their contribution when it is equalled by British people of different beliefs. This needlessly fuels enervating sectarian debates that are by and large absent from the lives of most British people, who do not want religions or religious identities to be actively prioritised by their elected government.
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats has a weekly radio phone-in show and responded to Cameron's comment, calling for the disestablishment of the Church of England. Although an atheist, he sometimes accompanies his wife and children to Roman Catholic mass, an important part of her Spanish heritage they want to enable them to experience. In his radio show he commented:
"I'm not a practising man of faith but I don't have a problem to say we have an important Christian identity and heritage," he said. "That is not to say we are exclusively Christian, everyone is a Christian or indeed that we have one Christian denomination. There are almost as many Catholics as Anglicans in this country.
"We should remember one of the greatest Christian values is tolerance. We are open to people of other denominations and faiths and none, and that sense of fair play and tolerance is what makes our country very special."
The publication of a volume of his poems this week gave the Telegraph an opportunity to
interview Rowan Williams who retired as Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the Anglican church in 2012. His views surprisingly echo both those in the letter and of Nick Clegg.
. “If I say that this is a post-Christian nation, that doesn’t mean necessarily non-Christian. It means the cultural memory is still quite strongly Christian. And in some ways, the cultural presence is still quite strongly Christian. But it is post-Christian in the sense that habitual practice for most of the population is not taken for granted.
“You need to pick your way quite carefully here,” says a man accustomed to doing so. “A Christian nation can sound like a nation of committed believers, and we are not that. Equally, we are not a nation of dedicated secularists. I think we’re a lot less secular than the most optimistic members of the British Humanist Association would think.”
....
“A Christian country as a nation of believers? No. A Christian country in the sense of still being very much saturated by this vision of the world and shaped by it? Yes.”
I should add that this discussion itself is fairly marginal within Britain. You will note most of it is being carried out in the "Torygraph" which is perhaps appropriate as the Church of England is sometimes disparagingly described as "the Conservative Party at prayer".