The Lord is my Shepherd. Am I a sheep?

The Archbishop of Wales says faith is more important than the truth. Should we therefore stop asking questions and follow the pack?

The resurrection of Jesus is fulcrum to the Christian faith. Before his crucifixion - while he was certainly revered by his followers - Jesus of Nazareth was no more than a wise teacher, perhaps even today what we call a guru.

But while he seems to have had a small though loyal following, it is not until his death and subsequent alleged rising that Jesus of Nazareth appears to have fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy. That is, he became the Messiah - a long awaited figure it was believed would rule the Jewish people and bring peace. His ascension to Heaven Christians say, is proof that Jesus was indeed the living son of God. So according to such, it is imperative for them to believe that the resurrection occurred.

Yet in his Easter sermon, the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, is to tell his congregation that there is no proof this event happened. Instead, he will say it is faith in the reality of the resurrection which of greater importance. In effect, he is asking his audience and the wider community to believe in an ‘apparent truth’ and subtly demanding they not question the validity of the Gospel accounts.

Like all large institutions, the Church wants us to believe in its doctrine, without examination. And Dr Morgan appears happy to have blind followers, rather than those that seek the truth. However, given that this week we have also commemorated the fifth anniversary of the invasion into Iraq, his message falls flat.

In the months leading up to the start of the war, the Government repeatedly claimed that Saddam Hussein was hiding Weapons of Mass Destruction. We were told that he would use these to launch an attack on the Western world. That we were close to losing what we valued most – our freedom.

History now shows us that this was not true. And while millions did protest against the war, the movement was not strong enough to deter the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, from deploying British troops. The movement was also largely ignored by the UK media. It was chiefly in support of Blair’s decision and failed miserably to check the evidence brandished for WMD’s.

This incredible lack of journalistic rigour was widespread. Fleet Street consumed press releases and churned them out for the wider public. The data seemed concrete and to top it all, Saddam was evil. To add to this, Blair appealed to our compassion and guilt in his arguments. He told us it was ‘the right thing to do’. Morally while many disagreed with war, they also knew the regime of Saddam was not a fair one for the people of Iraq. And so five years ago the bombs fell on Baghdad and the tanks rolled in.

The media showed faith in the Government, faith that was in hindsight misplaced. What Dr Morgan forgets this Easter is that while faith is important, proof in many cases is imperative.