Secularists have condemned communities secretary Eric Pickles for implying that "aggressive secularism" has contributed to the religious conflicts raging in the Middle East and elsewhere.
In an article in The Daily Telegraph, Pickles says religion is not the problem, but political extremism is.
He reflects on a summer of seeing Christians being systematically persecuted and murdered in the Middle East, antisemitic attacks in response to Gaza, the fall-out from sexual abuse against children by Pakistani Muslims and murders carried out by Islamic State terrorists who may have included Britons indoctrinated to preach evil at home and enact it abroad.
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"The common theme is the politics of division and hate: attitudes and mantras that seek to divide rather than unite," he writes. "Aggressive secularists would advocate the suppression of religion in the public sphere. Yet this would only perpetuate the message of intolerance towards others. Religion is the not the problem – political and religious extremism is."
