Faith Good, Secularism Bad?

There have been two attacks on Secularism in recent speeches by religious politicians. The first by Baroness Warsi at the Conservative conference:

The state's continued suspicion of faith is wrong /// under Labour, the State has become increasingly sceptical of an individuals religious belief. /// At the heart of these cases lies a growing intolerance and illiberal attitude towards those who believe in God. The scepticism of senior Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris driving this secular agenda has now grown to become an ideology permeating through many parts of the public sector. It's an agenda driven by the political-elite, who have hijacked the pursuit of equality by demanding a dumbing down of faith. It's no wonder that this leads to accusations in the media that our country's Christian culture is being downgraded.

The second by Tony Blair in a speech to Muslims in the US:

We face the challenge of relevance - showing how faith can be a force for the future, for progress, that it will not fade as science, technology and material prosperity alters the way we live. We face an aggressive secular attack from without. We face the threat of extremism from within. These challenges are not for Muslims alone or Christians or Jews, Hindus or Buddhists for that matter. They are challenges for all people of faith. Those who scorn God and those who do violence in God's name, both represent views of religion. But both offer no hope for faith in the twenty first century.

His equation of "those who scorn God" with "those who do violence in God's name", is particularly pernicious, as if critical words and bombs were equally harmful.