|TOP|A senior cathedral cleric has suggested that unless Christians begin to take their faith seriously, Britain could soon become a Muslim nation, reports The Church of England Newspaper.

Canon Alan Nugent, the Subdean of Lincoln Cathedral last week distributed a Chapter Letter to members of the congregation in which he commented on the demonstrations by Muslims following the cartoon caricatures of their Prophet Muhammad published in some European newspapers.

Nugent pointed out the extreme “brutal and violent” posters carried by a number of the protestors in London protests, but also highlighted that many other posters were not commented on by the media, and that they were “significant”.

He revealed that the banners showed Islam’s goal in the UK: “They warned that Britain would before long become Islamic. There is no doubt that Islam is a missionary faith and the conversion of unbelievers is a major factor in its spread. It is not surprising that many Muslims may well harbour the hope that this country could be converted to the faith of the Prophet — especially when so often they encounter a Christian faith which could well be characterised as uncertain and in decline.”

|AD|He added, “What is needed for Britain to remain a Christian nation is for Christian people to take their faith seriously and never assume that a Christian Britain is a given which will never change.”

Recent statistics regarding religious movements and growths in the UK revealed that if current trends continued that by 2012 there would be more people worshipping in mosques than churches in England.

Also last week the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke about the issue. However, he seemed to think that the Church was “stable” in the UK with certain signs of growth, report the Church of England newspaper.

Dr Williams said, “However many people there are in the mosque in Britain, there’s still a question, I think, as to what is the religious institution of first resort for the British people. Now culturally and historically I don’t see that being the mosque in five year’s time.”

Speaking about how the majority of people in Britain tend to resort to the churches during times of crisis he concluded, “Now that’s something perhaps much less than full-fledged faith – yet it’s a bridgehead into the majority of the population.”