Logo

 

Banner Image:   National-News-banner-Purple
Template Mode:   Baptist Times
Icon
    Post     Tweet

Westminster Faith Debate: Religion in Public Life 

The last of the Westminster Faith Debates - and Jonathan Barr of the Joint Public Issues Team was there

 
As is the want of grand finales, this event had the biggest names, the largest crowd and the best venue. The speakers were Tony Blair, - fresh from a Prime Ministers' Downing Street Dinner with the Queen, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and Charles Moore.

The topic in hand - Religion in Public Life - wasn't new. Indeed, it was a matter that the Ancient Romans had also to discuss. The speakers can be forgiven therefore, for not coming out with anything original.  What was said has been heard before, but it was interesting to hear it from such worthy voices.

The Archbishop spoke of the church being a place where people put a lot of emotion. They expect it to have a holding or brokering capacity. The Church will also, he said, rally round and help out when the nation is in crisis.

Charles Moore spoke of his journalistic frustration at religions becoming less interested in communication as they get more organised.  'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature' is a media mission, he said mischievously, and the Gospels are, among other things, extended pieces of journalism.

Tony Blair encapsulated the political desire to merge the needs of all faiths and communities together so that everyone can get on and live harmoniously in a neat and pithy phrase: We need "religion friendly democracy, democracy friendly religion."

When questioned about the legalising gambling by the Salvation Army, Blair said that the case was a good example of what he meant. He didn't agree with the Salvation Army, but they made their case well and he, after consideration, pursued the course of action that he genuinely believed to be best for the country.

That's how democracy works. Religions must be allowed to make their case passionately from faith, but they must accept that they are not always going to get things their way.

This country has been banging the drum for such democratic pluralism for quite a while now, and clearly it is easier lauded than achieved.

There are obstacles in its path. In a Telegraph interview preceding the debate, Blair pointed out that many faiths have an 'exclusive truth claim' for their religion: that it alone contains the path to true salvation. This claim can make it difficult to accept that other decent and honourable people will reject the claim, and believe something else. 

There was no definitive answer to that, but all agreed that open, honest and good quality dialogue helps. Blair argued that greater religious literacy would help all of us understand each other, and realise how much religions have in common. Believers must speak openly about their faith, he said, mentioning that while leader of the opposition, he was visited by a representative of the Salvation Army, who after the meeting, got him and a couple of nameless reluctant aides on to their knees for prayer. They said 'for God's sake;' he said 'exactly!'

Dialogue, though, can be impeded by the widely held concern that faiths are being programmatically pushed out of public life in favour of a new "religion of human rights."What role can there be for the churches voice in the public square in such circumstances?

To this the Archbishop replied that an omnipotent "God does not need disciples to win his arguments".  We mustn't conclude, he said, that the public square is on some centre ground where all sound people will agree, and where religion is tolerated as an off beam eccentricity, for religions are more involved in public life than that.

Human Rights conventions, for example, owe much to the contribution of Christian ethics to society. Religions can and should, advance solid arguments in public, based on faith and grounded in practical fact.  Blair and Moore spoke in agreement.

And with that the debate was over. The three stood up and walked out the door opposite to the one through which they had entered, and were gone. The rest of us were left to find a way out through a crowd of clergy, activists, think tankers, and representatives of groups, religious and secular and anti-religion. All discussing what they had heard.


Jonathan Barr is a research assistant with the Joint Public Issues Team.
    Post     Tweet
'A thank-you—from those taught, challenged, and inspired by her ministry'
The Revd Dr Karen E. Smith was surprised with the presentation of a new volume published in her honour at this year’s Baptist Historical Society Summer Conference
Calling previous members of the Joppa Group
Were you a member of the Joppa Group? Do you have historic papers about it? An invitation-based roundtable event is being co-convened to mark the 40th anniversary of the group's founding. Paul Weller explains more
Ripples of Change - a service of celebration and thankfulness
A service has been organised to mark the role Jane Day served in our Baptist family as Centenary Enabler, combining thankfulness for the progress made, as well as a time of lament for many of the findings of Project Violet. Lisa Kerry explains more
I Will...Leave a lasting legacy
The Baptist Union of Great Britain with BMS World Mission have now launched a new church resource to help those considering an ongoing blessing to support God’s mission both in the UK and overseas
Church planting: a national perspective on God at work
A report from the latest meeting of the The National Church Planting Network, which aims to spot emerging trends - and seek God’s direction together for the future of church planting in the UK
Graduation for Baptist local leaders course
The first cohort of students on a two year course designed to help Baptist church members deepen their understanding of faith and develop skills in ministry and mission has graduated
     Latest News 
    Posted: 04/06/2025
    Posted: 21/05/2025
    Posted: 07/01/2025
    Posted: 07/01/2025
     
    Text Size:  
    Small (Default)
    Medium
    Large
    Contrast:  
    Normal
    High Contrast