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ANNUAL LECTURE 2002 NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR VOLUNTARY
Author: Dr Indarjit Singh OBE, JP
Working in a Multi-faith Society
Until very recent times, we could all grow up in the comfort and security of a background religion that we shared with those that lived around us. It was common and patriotic (it still is for some), to go into raptures about our way of life compared with the inferior ways of foreigners. Many believed that even God acknowledged our natural superiority, and was always on our side. The famous words of John of Gaunt in Shakespeare's Richard II, which we learnt at school, illustrate this type of thinking:
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or a moat defensive to a house
Against the envy of less happier lands
And there is much more of the same!
We learnt to criticise the literary style, the use of figurative language. Seriously though, it's important to understand that this sort of thinking was common to most nations and cultures. In the past, we could strengthen our sense of cohesion and identity, including religious identity, by misrepresenting the ways and beliefs of others, or describing them in disparaging terms. The dictionary definition of heathen for example is 'those who are not Christian, Jew or Muslim'. Because of geographic distance, it was safe to talk in a disparaging or condescending way about other faiths because it was unlikely that we would ever come in contact with the inhabitants of distant lands. In the same disparaging way, many in India, even argued that to leave the shores of India would pollute them forever.
All this changed dramatically during and after the Second World War. Air travel made distant lands only hours away and the upheavals of the war and collapse of empires has made those of different faiths often near neighbours. Near instant communications have accelerated this coming together of once distant faiths and cultures. Globalisation is often seen in purely economic terms. The reality is that you cannot have the free movement of capital and resources exclusive of the greater movement and mixing of people. They are all inextricably entwined. The movement of people of different cultures and beliefs is bound to accelerate.
One of the greatest challenges that life in the 21st century now faces is how can we preserve our own identity and culture and at the same time respect the belief and way of life of our new neighbours. At one time, learning about other religions was the preserve of the academic, or the mildly eccentric. To say a good word about another religion, as Captain John Cunningham did about Sikhism a century ago, was considered near treason. In marked contrast, in this Jubilee year, the Queen has made a point of visiting a mosque, a Hindu temple and a Sikh gurdwara.
Very real progress has been made in this Country and others, in showing this long-due respect for other religions. But difficulties still remain. We are still burdened with the legacy of the past, and the association of religion with war and conflict. Terrible wars were fought, and sadly are still being fought in the name of religion. What religious leaders have failed to demonstrate, is that it is not religious teaching, but the exploitation of the external peripherals of religion: rituals, superstition, false emphasis on difference, and naked political ambition that are to blame.
Interfaith dialogue is all about testing and refuting the assumptions that our different religions have little in common, are a source of continuing conflict and are no longer relevant to our scientific, rational, and enlightened world. The first early stage in inter faith dialogue, was to meet with people of other faiths and say superficially nice things about each other while eating samosas and sweetmeats. Christians have been particularly good at this, while occasionally, providing tea and biscuits in return. Inter-faith groups throughout the country, then went on to explore the religious teachings of other faiths and the many similarities in aspirations and belief, leading to genuine respect. Unfortunately, this newer understanding has been slow to reach the general population.
Let me give a recent example of this ignorance. Far fewer Muslims than Sikhs wear turbans, particularly in the western world, and two Sikhs, mistaken for Muslims, were murdered in the USA, and many suffered verbal abuse in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 atrocities of last year. A few days after the September11 outrage, I was coming out of Victoria Station when I noticed that two building workers were eyeing me in a hostile way. Then the older one turned to the younger and said, 'he's not a Muslim, he's a Hindu!' We can expect that sort of ignorance, from the less educated, but a few years earlier, the editor of a tabloid daily rang me to ask if I would write a regular column for his paper. He went on and on to explain that his paper admired the contribution being made by the Asians, but it was the blacks that were causing all the trouble. Then before I could get a word in declining his kind offer, he went on to say, 'you are a Muslim, aren't you?'
Despite such widespread ignorance, real progress is being made. A major step forward was the founding of the Inter Faith Network of the UK, some 15 years ago on the initiative of Brian Pearce, who many of you will know. This national body now has some 100-affiliate organisations from all the major faiths. Dialogue often involves leaders of major faiths, like the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbi. It has produced many excellent papers on approaches to dialogue, and arranged many ground breaking national conferences on areas of common concern such as Education, Religious Discrimination, Women in Religion and so on.
The Interfaith Network provided a major input in the setting up of the government Inner Cities Religious Council or ICRC, some 10 years ago. Chaired by a government Minister, this unique body sought to bring faith communities into the task of urban regeneration. It had shaky beginnings with a distinctly 'us' and 'them' attitude between faith communities and government representatives, each eying the other with suspicion. Members of faith communities became perversely united in viewing initiatives of successive Conservative and Labour governments with uniform distrust. After a few years however, we all began to realise that we were really on the same side, and as well as providing a useful input into issues of urban regeneration, the ICRC has also linked with the Home Office and other government departments on initiatives designed to enable religious communities to play a fuller part in British life.
Before the 1991, at a meeting of the Home Secretary' Committee on Race Relations, I got my wrists verbally smacked for suggesting that it would be useful to have a question on religious affiliation in the Census. The stern put down from the Registrar General was 'religion is a private matter'. It was largely through discussion in the ICRC and the Interfaith Network that we got beyond this narrow view of religion, for the eventual inclusion of a question on religious identity in the 2001 census. When results are published later this year, they will help us move away from meaningless classification on the basis of race or country of origin, to the fairer targeting and allocation of government and local government resources to real communities with real needs.
The success of the Interfaith Network and the ICRC has led to a number of other important initiatives to involve religious communities in national and international development. Regular meetings now take place between faith leaders and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown and the Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short, on issues of international debt and development in the 3rd World. At a the time of near war hysteria over Kashmir between India and Pakistan earlier this year, the Home Office was able to use the community links established by the Interfaith Network to arrange meetings between sub-continent faiths to defuse possible tensions and conflict in this country.
The important point in all this is that each meeting between a member of one faith and that of another helps break down false and divisive prejudices. The best example of different faiths working together was perhaps in the Lambeth Group, where a number of different faith leaders used to meet regularly at Lambeth Palace to plan the celebration of the new Millennium.
In one of the meetings of this Group, it was announced that Christian services to mark the new Millennium would take place in England, Wales and Scotland. I commented that the start of a new millennium in a calendar we all used, was a time of reflection and commitment for all our different faiths, and ideally, there should be a service in which we could all be involved. After some hesitancy from some Christian groups, who feared that it might dilute an essentially Christian celebration, it was agreed to go ahead with an all faiths service of Commitment and Reflection. The event took place on the 3rd of January 2000, and was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Prime Minister, who described it, as perhaps the most significant event marking the start of the new Millennium.
There are other important areas of cooperation between different faiths and the Establishment in Health, the Prison Service etc. to make ours a fairer and more cohesive society. Sadly, I don't have time to go into these and I will now try to summarise some of the important lessons of multi faith cooperation in the ways that I've referred to:
- The reality of life in multi-faith Britain, and incidentally in much of the world today, is that a sizable part of the population, is either antagonistic or indifferent to religion. Not surprisingly, prejudice and ignorance is all too common.
- We live in a relatively affluent society where very few want for food, shelter or warmth. The prevailing ethic however, is one of a continual and unhealthy pandering to self and individual rights. Despite all evidence to the contrary, there is still a popular belief the if we have enough material goods and a plentiful and varied supply of food, we will be happy and contented. The reality is very different and we see increasing crime, stress and family breakdown going hand in hand with increasing affluence.
- Over the years, our different religions have allowed those who do not understand the essentially common thrust of our different faiths, to build barriers of arrogance and prejudice between us. Genuine dialogue helps us break down these false barriers.
- Religion teaches that the way to personal happiness and a contented society is to look beyond self to the well being of others. It is this looking outwards beyond self to the needs of others and responsibility to future generations, that is the main thrust of our different religious teachings.
- We have charitable institutions in our different faiths, like English Churches Housing doing just this. But working in a multi-faith society requires a continuing sensitivity to the needs and aspirations of those of different faiths that can only be found through dialogue.
- Finally, our different faiths have long taught values of respect and consideration for others that have largely been abandoned in the quest for ever- greater material prosperity. Inter faith dialogue, and from there, active cooperation between different faiths can give meaning and direction to a society in drift; to a society that has, in my view, lost its sense of values and priorities. There are many ways of misrepresenting a teaching or doctrine and one of the most insidious and damaging of these is misrepresentation by misplaced emphasis. For example, although Sikhs have a record of remarkable valour.
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