From the Archbishop of Jos 8 March 2010 Dear Friends,A VOICE OF REASON 3 January 17th was a Sunday morning and as usual Christians left their homes to congregate in churches to worship. That day has since become a remarkable day in history with sad memories for Christian and Muslim communities in Jos and its environs. A few days after that, leaders began to gather to see how to resolve what the perceived problems, or real problems, or even imaginary problems were. I myself became a part of a group with industrialists, businessmen and women, academics and religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim, to discuss these matters. We even spent a day at a forum listening to elders and religious leaders in Jos and spent another day listening to the youth. In all the conversations...

It is promiscuity that is undermining marriage in modern society; civil partnerships do exactly the oppositeThe majority of those who enter into a civil partnership do so with the same sense of commitment as those who get married, sometimes, as events prove, with a rather greater commitment in reality. As with a wedding, they usually wish to surround the ceremony with celebration. Those with a religious faith see it as one of the most solemn and sacred moments in the living out of their faith, and not surprisingly, wish to set it in a religious context with a religious blessing.At the moment those who wish such a blessing must arrange it after the legal ceremony, which cannot take place on religious premises, and if the legalities and the blessing are on the same secular premises, the...

Following a meeting at the Foreign Office on Monday, the Parliamentary Human Rights Group mission to Pakistan to investigate the treatment of minority religious communities is going ahead. Although the government has undertaken to address these problems, it provides them with no protection against incitement to religious hatred, and the laws that discriminate against particular minorities encourage a societal attitude of intolerance. Among the many submissions to the UN's Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan on the parlous condition of the minorities, it was stated that "Violence and discrimination by Islamic extremists and rival religious and ethnic groups regularly plague the country’s Shiite, Christian, Ahmadi, Hindu, and Sikh...

The Archbishop of Jos, Rev Dr Ben Kwashi had a fine article in Christianity Today. Click on the title for the link. Now he has written a very fine letter.2 February 2010 Dear Friends, Peace and greetings. As a person who has invested in lives – in men and women, young and old, people who were heading for destruction, drunkards, drop-outs, drug addicts, rich and poor, people of all categories, but people to whom through the grace of God we ministered the gospel of salvation, and who were then transformed, and changed to become valuable tools for further investment in the community – now, to see such lives destroyed aches my heart. In all my years of ministry God has called me to bless people, to invest in social community developments, in the building of schools, clinics,...

The United Kingdom has made great strides in bringing equality to it's citizens. Whilst I might not agree with exactly how it's done sometimes (I'm big on ensuring legislation defends free speech), I still wholeheartedly support the reasons for equality legislation. This is quite simply about ensuring all citizens are equal before public institutions. This has come despite the usual religious opposition to the liberation of women and the GLBT community. On the one hand they defend the laws protected them against religious hatred and on the other they attack laws protecting those who wish to live their lives in a way they disapprove. This sort of hypocrisy is to be expected. But the Pope, who expects us to fork out £20 million for his upcoming state visit, has crossed a line. When...

Yes, yes, the Catholic Church opposes the active practice of homosexuality. We know already. The Church already lost its fight to stop gay couples being considered by Catholic adoption agencies. Now the Pope has said that British laws “impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.” What’s he talking about? David Blackburn at the Spectator is in no doubt. It’s the Equality Bill, which “will require organisations to employ without thought to suitability, and allocate resources under the perverse dictates of positive-discrimination.” What Blackburn is getting at, in a roundabout way, is that under certain provisions of the bill, the Catholic Church might have to consider hiring sexually active...

Pope Benedict XVI has attacked British society and in particular our equality legislation. In a letter addressed to the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, the pope criticised UK legislation for creating "limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs". Of course, what the Pope means is the law now prevents adoption agencies from discriminating against gay couples and the Equality Bill may mean the Catholic Church can no longer discriminate on grounds of sexuality or...

From the various reports I've seen of them in today's press, the Pope's remarks about Britain's pending equality legislation are confused. He has spoken, on the one hand, of 'unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs'. Religious communities must enjoy this freedom in a democratic society, it is true; but only within certain limits, limits that respect the fundamental human rights of all individuals, whether inside or outside a particular religious community. The Pope himself would not be able to defend a freedom without limit for religious people to act in accordance with their beliefs, given the murderous nature of certain such beliefs. But the Pope is also quoted, on the other hand, as appealing to 'long-standing British...

• Bishops told to fight moves with 'missionary zeal'• Secular groups preparing protests for September tripPope Benedict XVI marked the announcement of his first papal visit to Britain with an unprecedented attack on the ­government's equality legislation yesterday, claiming it threatened religious freedom and ran contrary to "natural law".Speaking at the Vatican to visiting Catholic bishops of England and Wales, he described changes to the law as unjust and urged them to invoke "missionary zeal" to resist them.The comments came during a five-yearly trip to the Vatican by the bishops, during which they made presentations on their concerns about the place of religion in an increasingly secular society.The pope's broadside appeared to be aimed squarely at recent legislation that...

The Pope says UK's Equality Bill imposes unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities. Do you...

A middle-aged British couple kidnapped by Somalian pirates have made a desperate appeal for the Government to intervene after more than 3 months in captivity.  But the Foreign Office reiterated yesterday its stance that it will not pay a ransom for Paul and Rachel Chandler (pictured above), from Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Mrs Chandler, who is being held hostage in a separate location from her husband, said they were being treated “cruelly” by the pirates who kidnapped the couple in the Indian Ocean. She begged to be reunited with him and pleaded for assistance to secure their release in a new film broadcast yesterday.  The couple were captured while sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania last year. And of course our weak, banal, incompetent, mealy-mouthed Foreign...

Famously, George Orwell's Animal Farm started off with 'all animals are equal' and finished declaring 'four legs good, two legs bad', It is clearly a sentiment with which Pope Benedict XVI might identify.According to The Times he is due to visit Britain later this year but already he is unhappy with what he may find here.He confirmed the visit in a pastoral address to the Bishops of England and Wales today where he also indulged in what Ruth Gledhill describes as 'a wonderful Benedictine attack on our nation's move to embrace equal rights for all, in which he urges 'missionary zeal' on the bishops in carrying the flag for religious freedom in Britain.' As she points out, religious freedom means the right for religions to discriminate against minorities, primarily gays.The Pope writes:...

Benedict XVI says legislation safeguarding rights of same-sex couples violates 'natural law'Pope Benedict XVI has condemned British equality legislation for running contrary to "natural law" as he confirmed his first visit to the UK later this year.In a letter addressed to the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, the pope praised Britain's "firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all".However he criticised UK legislation for creating "limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs".It is thought his comments relate to laws that came in last year preventing adoption agencies from discriminating against gay couples.The pope, whose visit is expected in September, made the comments after hearing representations from English and Welsh...

This is a guest post by Shaaz Mahboob of British Muslims for Secular Democracy Mosques, Synagogues, Temples, Gurdwaras, Churches and other places of worship offer a unique spiritual experience for those using them. Therefore, maintaining their sanctity is a must, both for those who use them and those who run them. This “multicultural” society of ours, about to complete its first decade into the 21st Century, in many respects has come a long way from the days of Stephen Lawrence’s ghastly murder and certainly from the dark ages when witches were burnt at stake and Jews were murdered en masse, for their religious beliefs. What has recently been picked up by Quilliam Foundation (link) is news relating to the platform (link) being given by the Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham, to two...

Rupa Huq has a good piece up on Comment is Free on the foolishness of treating groups of ethnic/religious minorities as blocks of votes: The past week has spanned a diverse array of Asian imagery in the news: ugly scenes of the so-called English Defence League clashing with Muslims in Nottingham city centre, Tory shadow communities minister Sayeeda Warsi being egged by extremists for not being Muslim enough in Luton and the BNP unveiling its first Sikh member, an Islamophobe now empowered to join up by equalities legislation. Before Nick Griffin records a party political broadcast in Punjabi to consolidate this, he and other party leaders would do well to remember that the majority of Asians in this country are now British-born with English as their first and often only language. Indeed...

This is the snazzy soundbite heading of a press release from the National Secular Society, which is appalled and horrified that the Catholic Bishops Conference (COMECE) has issued a press release reminding EU members that ‘religious groups — particularly the Vatican — are coming to claim the privileges that the Treaty promises them’.At least that is the NSS summary of the COMECE press release.It is a curious concern, considering the arm-twisting activities and the ‘privileges’ being claimed by the EU’s rabidly-secular forces and its archdruids of godlessness.The press release says: “The Treaty introduces into EU primary law an Article of notable importance for the Churches. By means of Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the EU recognises the identity...

Today the Swiss people have decided in a referendum to ban minarets, an architectural feature found on some of the most beautiful buildings in the world, because of their association with Muslims.A worrying 57.5% people voted against new minarets being built, with opposition particularly concentrated in the French speaking West. What's even more disturbing is the way that the creators of the motion are clearly barking mad."The initiators of the measure, the right-wing ”Erkingen Committee,”... claimed minarets were an attempt to spread radical Islam in Switzerland, said the vote would bar any attempt to introduce elements of Sharia law in Switzerland."What? I mean... what? People actually voted with these morons? There's no movement to introduce Sharia law in Switzerland and what the...

In a desperate attempt to secure its electoral base, the government is shamefully wooing religious extremistsAs every middlebrow with a newspaper column or Radio 4 slot to fill agrees, a vulgar "new atheism" is sweeping Britain. The readers of Richard Dawkins, Philip Pullman and Christopher Hitchens are, they tell us, crass because they do not appreciate the mystery of religion, the consolations of ritual and all the rest of it, and also dangerous because they are as fundamentalist in their criticisms of religion as the religious fanatics they criticise.I could waste your time by pointing out that "new atheists" are not so different from old atheists – we still don't believe in God, for instance – and add that the charge of moral equivalence would be easier to substantiate if atheists...

bmsd’s letter to “Stop the Islamisation of Europe”. ————— Dear Mr [Stephen] Gash, We are a group of Muslim democrats who are committed to the values that define the British state, including legal and constitutional equality for all, equal rights for women and minorities, and religious freedom, including the right to be free of faith. We take such pride in these virtues that we actively seek to defend them against any individual, political group or organised religious outfit which seeks to impose their religious beliefs upon others (thereby infringing the right of all people to practice any religion or to be free of any religion). As an attendee at our counter-demonstration against Al-Muhajiroun on 31st October 2009, you would have seen for yourself how...

As Secretary of State for "Communities" (and it's worth pausing here, just for a moment, to notice the typically New Labourish elision of title and propaganda - seen also in Miliband Minor's billing as secretary for "climate change") one of John Denham's responsibilities is to front the government's effort to cosy up to representatives of "Faith". Apparently, he wants Faith leaders to have "a central role" in shaping government policies. In a recent speech, he described himself as a secular humanist; which you might think would give him some sense of perspective - but no, he went on to eulogise Faith in terms that seem to have been ripped almost word-for-word from one of St Tony's regular sermons.For many people, their faith plays a defining role in their lives, their character, their...

Rowan Williams says 'aggressive conservatism' has caused suspicion of religious groups' motives in developing countriesThe Archbishop of Canterbury has warned aid agencies about the "perfectly real" dangers of working with faith-based activists and groups in developing countries. Dr Rowan Williams encouraged secular agencies and NGOs to maintain a "steady vigilance about proselytism, manipulative use of favours, exclusive focus on people of the same faith and other practices that distort the goals of liberation for a whole community".He was speaking at a seminar on faith and development, organised by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation in association with the Royal Society of Arts. It was chaired by Rabbi David Rosen.Williams said the fact these risks were "sometimes exaggerated" and were...

Seyran Ates, a lawyer and writer living in Berlin, argues that human rights must have priority over religious practices. Her post, which is not long, merits being read in full. The argument she makes is really about the relation between human rights and demands and pressures inconsistent with these but imposed by religious communities. It should go without saying that in secular, democratic societies human rights must have priority where there is such a conflict. For communities only have legitimacy there as being voluntary, adhered to by their members as a matter of choice and without any implication that a participant's most fundamental entitlements can be overriden without their free consent. Communities are communities of individuals and may not properly arrogate to themselves...

According to Martin Bright in the Jewish Chronicle: Also this week, the Board of Deputies has called on the government to impose strict conditions on Muslim groups wishing to engage with Whitehall. But [Communities minister John] Denham was resistant to taking a hardline view on groups advocating violence outside UK territory. He confirmed he would be setting up a panel from the religious communities to advise on interfaith issues. This sounds very peculiar. What are these conditions? Anyone know? I’d like to see what conditions are being demanded and whether those conditions then apply across the board with respect to all communities, not just Muslims. On the face of it, it looks like the JBOD is only going to make any inter-faith dialogue more difficult if it is demanding that...

MixTogether, writing at Harry’s Place, is arguing that the government and NGOs aren’t doing enough to condemn communities where ‘honour’-based violence (HBV) is prevalent, and that simply introducing more initiatives and laws won’t solve the problems: “This is a welcome initiative, but it gets no closer to tackling the real root of the problem. It is just the latest round in the bizarre game of charades the government is playing with regard to ‘honour’ crimes… Why do Nazir Afzal and other senior figures not have the courage to say publicly to the known problem communities that their behaviour in these matters is wrong, and does not accord with the letter or the spirit of British law? Rather than attempt to educate and improve the lives of...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index “Ban Blair-Baiting” petition - please sign Full report – Tony Blair Faith Foundation website Comment at end 9th September, 2009 Tony Blair spoke at the launch seminar (Photo: Jonny Greig) The series is a joint effort by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the Department for International Development, Islamic Relief, Oxfam and World Vision. Hosted by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), it aims to bring together key voices from the government, faith groups, NGOs, media and academia to discuss the big questions around the role of faith within development. (source) From the TBFF website: The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, DFID, Islamic Relief, World Vision and Oxfam are working together to...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index “Ban Blair-Baiting” petition - please sign Comment at end 8th September, 2009 KEY: DFID – Department for International Development (started 1997, history here) G8 Gleneagles Summit, 2005 G8+5 MDGs, history – UN, 2000 Making Poverty History, started 2005 TBFF – Tony Blair Faith Foundation Commission for Africa, launched by Tony Blair, 2004 The following speech is from Tony Blair’s website here Speech by Tony Blair launching the Faith and Development seminar series This is the full text of a speech by Tony Blair to launch the Faith and Development seminar series at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce, London. The creation of DFID was an important moment for the...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index “Ban Blair-Baiting” petition - please sign Tony Blair Faith Foundation website Comment at end 7th September, 2009 PREFACE to Tony Blair’s article pasted below: Quite why Mr Blair has chosen the Guardian of all publications to write on faith matters escapes me. Most of the comments so far prove that that paper is frequented by bigots whose only “truth” is that the Iraq invasion was a wrong decision taken for the wrong reasons by a “wrong ‘un”.  In those conclusions they are … well … WRONG. I say that as an atheistic-leaning agnostic, proud of secular Britain, but who evidently lacks the wisdom of the average Cif-er. Thus I possess few certainties except that we should be uncertain...

You can find it as Muslim News – here’s an excerpt: We in the Liberal Democrats have always championed religious tolerance, and we are proud of the diverse traditions in our country. We recognise the importance of the principle of Zakat to Muslims, especially at this time, and I deeply regret that Islam can be unfairly portrayed in many parts of the media especially when Muslim communities in this country do so much excellent charitable work. The full article is...

There is quite a bit of ‘Muslim bashing’ going over this incident, in which Jim Fitzpatrick MP, minister for food and farming, and his wife walked out of a Muslim wedding after refusing to be segregated into male and female areas.‘Evil Muslims!’ some will cry. ‘Appalling discrimination!’ ‘The unacceptable face of Islam!’ ‘Misogynists!’ Blah, blah.Cranmer is quite frankly appalled and the arrogance and ignorance of this Labour MP and his wife. His Grace can hear Mr Fitzpatrick now, losing his composure and barking at the hosts: “I don’t just want to sit down, I want to sit down with my wife.” And he adds, contemptuously: “I am a Minister of State, am I not?” And indeed he is. But the Executive has no status in the London Muslim Centre, where there are people...

Dear Miriam Saleh, Thank you so much for being brave enough to speak about what has happened to you.  Too often, religious communities do not speak about their internal dealings, which can sometimes lead to great injustices going unnoticed.  The appallingly anti-women bias held in some sections of the Jewish community is almost as disturbing as the creeping encroachment of Sharia law into this country, and I therefore vehemently object to rulings made by these Jewish courts. When you decided your marriage to your husband was no longer working, you soon realised that getting a divorce in Britain’s law courts would be the least of your worries.  As a devout Orthodox Jew from a close-knit community in north London, the only way you can really be free to get on with your life...