Kemi Badenoch has said that Christianity is a “force for good” that she will “fight for” despite admitting that she had lost her own personal faith in God.
Speaking to Piers Morgan, Badenoch elaborated on how reading about the Josef Fritzl case had caused her to lose faith.
Fritzl is currently serving a life sentence after it emerged he had imprisoned his daughter, Elisabeth, for over two decades, repeatedly raped and abused her, and fathered several children by her. Elisabeth Fritzl was a prisoner in her father’s dungeon from the ages of 18 to 42.
Badenoch said that reading about the case had led her to question why God had answered her prayers for exam success, but not the prayers of Elisabeth Fritzl for release from captivity.
Badenoch told Morgan that while she did not see the Bible as a “textbook” for government, she still believed Christian values were good ones that need to be upheld.
"This is a Christian country. I don't want to see Christianity disappear. So even though I might not believe in every single thing that is in the Bible, overall I think that Christianity is a force for good, and I will fight for it."
Badenoch added that she does not pray and also spoke about her family’s faith. Her husband and children are practising Catholics, while her grandmother was a convert from Islam who experienced a miracle of some kind.
She added that, while she doubted she would return to faith, she described herself as a “cultural Christian” and “agnostic”.
