MODERN Scotland has "no room for Jesus", a leading church figure has claimed amid a continuing war of words with secularists.

In his Christmas address, Rev David Robertson, the Free Church of Scotland's moderator-elect, paralleled the birth of Jesus with life in present-day Scotland, and said that atheists hiding under the guise of "secularism" were attempting to "remove all traces of Christianity from society".

But the Scottish Secular Society (SSS) responded, saying the churchman clearly failed to understand what secularism actually means.

Mr Robertson, who takes up the role of Moderator in May, said it was pointless in Christians having faith if it did not affect their motivation in the workplace and the community.

His comments come less than a fortnight after he accused secularists of launching a sectarian attack against Jim Murphy, saying that the MP should not be allowed to become Scottish Labour Party leader because of his Roman Catholic faith.

This was robustly denied by the SSS who said they condemned sectarianism in any form.

But Rev Robertson, minister of Dundee St Peter's Free Church, has resumed his broadside, saying : "At every nativity one of the facts that is put across is that 'there was no room at the inn' for baby Jesus. It strikes me as a suitable metaphor for how much of Scotland will celebrate his birth this year.

"Some will have no room for Jesus because they are too busy watching TV, feeding themselves or getting whatever presents they can.

"Others want to exclude Christ from Christmas in order to be 'inclusive'. But 'Winterville' or 'seasons greetings' is not the real problem. No, the real problem are the atheists and agnostics who, under the guise of 'secularism', want to remove all trace of Christianity from society."

The Dundee minister added: "The militant secularists magnanimously say they will let us have our 'private' beliefs and reduce us to the status of a knitting club or Trekkie society, as long as these beliefs don't actually affect our public actions or lives. They want to remove religion from public life.

"The secularists will continue these witch hunts until Christ is removed from public life and we end up with a Godless dictatorship. For them, there is no room for Christ in the inn of the brave new world of modern Scotland."

But SSS chairman Spencer Fildes responded, saying: "After witnessing the endless attacks on the Scottish Secular Society by David Robertson this year, it's more than evident that he is failing to understand what secularism actually is."

He said the SSS would never say that anyone should not hold a public position because of their faith. However, secularists did believe absolutely that faith should a not interfere with their decision-making process.

He added: "We oppose certain issues because they create an unequal society."

"We have Muslim, Christian, Pagan and many faiths in the SSS; our board has two Christians and a Pagan. Do you truly think they would support what Mr Robertson says we are?"

He said many MSPs abstained from voting where they believed the issue in question was in conflict with their faith which the SSS admired.

"At least they are not using their personal belief as leverage to impose its tenets and doctrines on others," he said.