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The past few years have seen the publication of several popular books promoting more militant voices that are atheist in intent. From the perspective of pseudo-science, we have Richard Dawkins and his God Delusion, and the American Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell. Others have been Sam Harris's The End of Faith and Christopher Hitchen's God is not Great. All, in various ways, attempt to topple once and for all the edifice of religion.

There is nothing particularly new here, but what these books do indicate is an increasing popularity of 'fundamentalist' atheism. Despite many reviewers' concerns that they place rhetoric over reason, they have all sold well and are having an effect on how religion is perceived in the wider Western world. This change in perception is one that points to the religiously inspired evils of the Crusades, witch-hunts and even the Holocaust, alongside images of contemporary militant faith, whether in the Middle East, Alabama or the streets of London. What some liberal elite have woken up to is that, with the increase in globalisation, militant faith is now knocking on the front door. It is time to put the sandbags around their secular world. Being agnostic will no longer do.

In conversations I've had with Christians about these books, there is some awareness of a significant shift in how the media in general portrays faith. A common reply is the concern that both moderate and immoderate believers are all being bunched together into one group, with the assumption that there is only a degree of separation between the average Baptist on the street and the suicide bomber in Palestine.

This perception may be an exaggeration. But I do believe that what is happening is an attempt by some secularists to ratchet up efforts to remove religion and the language of faith from public discourse. And because the books mentioned above are ones that provide a simplistic model of conflict between 'reasonable' modern man and 'primitive' religious man, the general media thrives on it. In turn, media consumers become more dismissive of faith.

Even more ironic is the fact that this militant secularism is becoming more popular in a world that is supposed to be post-modern, where everyone is supposed to have the right to their own views and to live by their own values. Yet since religious terrorism has become big news, tolerance towards religions and those who hold positions of faith has lessened significantly. And moderate faith is being removed as a voice in the public square.

What then is the Christian's response? Should we simply keep quiet, and accept that we need to rethink how to engage culture? Or should we voice our opinions fearlessly? We have seen Ian Paisley Jr recently criticised for his personal comments regarding homosexuality. Whether he is correct in his attitudes is another issue, but was he right to speak in such a manner? What words should a Christian in a liberal democracy say? And what words can we get away with?

Gordon Brown