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More from
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali
 Writing in the Sunday
Telegraph 15 June 08, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said that the
“policies of successive governments and local authorities” and the
promotion of multiculturalism “at the expense of national and
community integrity” had led to social segregation, “parallel lives”
and the emergence of extremism. |
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“The Government is right to seek to unravel this mess - but it must
be done with the widest community and national partnerships,” he
wrote. “If the effects of years of misguided multicultural policies
are to be rolled back, the Government will have to work with social
housing trusts (for instance), including church ones, to promote
integrated communities. “It will have to encourage schools to
reflect the diversity of the community, instead of being religious
or ethnic enclaves.
“Britain is not and never has been a wholly secular democracy. Its
national life and institutions are based on Christian principles.”
The Bishop was responding to the release last week of a report by
the Von Hugel Institute which concluded that the Government
underestimates the contribution of the Church of England to civic
society. The “Moral but no compass” report said there was within
government a “significant lack of understanding of, or interest in,
the Church of England’s current or potential contribution in the
public sphere”. At a time when many Christians are concerned that
the Government favours Muslims, the report similarly concluded that
the Government was focusing on the “minority religions”. Bishop
Nazir-Ali said that such a policy would fail to address the problem
of extremism.
“Is that policy sensible or even realistic?” he wrote. “In Britain
the great majority of people (including many in the ethnic
minorities) identify themselves as Christian. “Will extremism be
combated by concentrating on a single faith or will it be better
fought by proper attention to all faiths?” Bishop Nazir-Ali said
that countries rooted in Christian values “face a serious
ideological challenge from extremists”. “Such a challenge cannot be
met by turning our backs on the very resources, spiritual, moral and
intellectual, that both make it possible to fight extremism and are
the reason for our determination to maintain all that is valuable in
British polity, culture and public life,” he said. He urged the
Government to counter extremism by supporting faith groups in their
civic work.
“The Government should be putting its resources wherever civil
society is being strengthened, where people are working for social
inclusion, where the needs of the most vulnerable are being met,”
he said. “Every faith community deserves recognition if it is
engaged with the wider community in these ways.” The Bishop pointed
to the “thousands who seek to serve their communities, anonymously
and humbly, precisely because of their Christian faith”. “Christian
convictions are central to any explanation of why thousands of
people volunteer for tasks, with no reward, knowing that they are
doing the right thing,” he wrote. Bishop Nazir-Ali added that he was
not arguing “for any special privileges for my church” but rather
“fairness in acknowledging the contributions of its members and in
weighing up its arguments for the common good”.
He called for a “proper national debate” on these issues and urged
Secretary of State Hazel Blears to “understand, and draw on, the
enormous resources she has available for promoting community
cohesion: the millions of people who are Christians and endorse and
practice Christian values”.
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