We have become ‘a nation of junkies’ for material possessions

ENGLAND HAS become a “nation of junkies” hooked on finding happiness through a diet of cosmetic surgery, fast cars and designer labels, a leading bishop has suggested.

Schools can be places where children can learn to look beyond the “illusion” of seeking fulfilment in material possessions and appearances, according to the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, inset, who once served the church in Wakefield.

Addressing headteachers at a Church of England education conference in London, he said: “We Christians, we dare to believe that God holds in his heart an image of what each of us is capable of becoming – against the lies and illusions that the world peddles.

“The world is always saying to us, if you just buy that designer label pair of jeans, or if you wore that expensive perfume, or if you drove a fast car, or if you got that cosmetic surgery, oh, well then you would be happy, then you would be fulfilled. But none of it works. Or perhaps to be more accurate, it works just enough to get you addicted. Sometimes I think ... we have just become a nation of junkies hooked on the idea that you can find fulfilment from these things. “Against all that, we assert that God does want to change us, but not into someone else. God wants to change us into ourselves; into the person we are capable of becoming.” He added: “A school can therefore be the place where transformation happens.” The Church of England runs 4,700 schools, collectively educating one million children.