It's one of those perennial stories, like the ritual Christmas sacrifice of the minister who says there's no Santa Claus: a crematorium has come under fire for taking down a cross.

You know: it's discrimination against believers, this is a Christian country and if people don't like dying here they can go and die somewhere else.

This time it's Accrington Crematorium in Burnley. The council took down a five-foot high cross from the wall when the building was being refurbished and replaced it with a smaller portable one. But – and here's the point – the impression was given that the cross would be "stuffed in a cupboard", as one outraged local had it, and only brought out when needed.

Actually, it's far from clear that this was the case. According to the Lancashire Telegraph, The person responsible, Councillor Ken Moss, held his hands up to a carelessly-worded statement. He said: "To cater for those families with religious beliefs the crematorium has a cross and crucifix available, which can be put up for services and taken down when not needed."

What he ought to have said, he later clarified, was: "To cater for those families with religious beliefs the crematorium has a cross and crucifix in place, which can be taken down when not needed." In fact it will stay up unless someone asks for it to be taken down, which was obviously a bit of an issue with a five-foot cross screwed to a wall.

Was it a U-turn, as his political opponents said, or just a slip of the press release? Well, let the reader decide, but local politics is a deadly business.

What's clear, however, is that the business has touched a particularly sore spot for some Christians who think the faith is under attack. The Area Dean of Accrington, Rev John Holland, said: "It's political correctness gone mad. It's just the wrong decision."

Even the Bishop of Burnley got involved. Rt Rev Philip North said: "The standard procedure is for the cross to be displayed at all times unless it is requested to be removed during a service, but this decision has turned that on its head. My choice would be for the cross to remain there."

In fact, as we now know, it's far from clear that it was the intention of the council to make the cross any less available for mourners who wanted it. The two ecclesiastics may in fact have been drawn unwittingly into a political row.

But what, in any case, is the problem?

The crematorium is not a church, it is a public building made available for religious and non-religious services. Most funerals are 'Christian', but many are not. The area is predominantly white British, but it has a (mainly Pakistani-origin) Muslim community too. These people are also citizens, and there's absolutely no justification for inflicting Christian symbolism on them in their mourning.

There are lots of atheists, too, who define themselves in opposition to religion generally and sometimes to Christianity in particular. Why on earth should mourners be faced with something that for the deceased at least, would have been nothing but an irritant?

So, why the outrage? It's possible, of course, that those who objected were simply anxious about the removal of a source of comfort from the bereaved; this is what Philip North argued. But there are some rather dark undercurrents swirling around as well. The council's decision – or what was said to be its decision – plays to a narrative that says Christianity is being marginalised, Christians are being persecuted and we need to fight back against attacks on Britain's historic faith.

That isn't a very helpful way of looking at things.

What's happening is that our society is changing. We are, of course, historically and culturally Christian. But Christianity no longer dominates the spiritual landscape as it did. Christians have to get used to the idea that they don't make the rules any more. We have to coexist on equal terms with people of other faiths and of no faith.

In this new world, insisting that the default spiritual symbol in a public building is religious and Christian just looks arrogant and, well, a bit desperate. Worse, it looks like an assertion of a particular kind of British identity that personally I wouldn't be too comfortable with. If you wrap your faith in the flag you corrupt them both.

When I die, I'd like a cross at my funeral. But that's my choice, and others should be free to have their choice too.

Follow @RevMarkWoods on Twitter.