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Leaders back faith in public life | Leaders back faith in public life |
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People who campaign against religion in public life have an "intolerant faith position", Anglican and Roman Catholic church leaders have said. | People who campaign against religion in public life have an "intolerant faith position", Anglican and Roman Catholic church leaders have said. |
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Catholic leader Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor say religion in society can be "radically inclusive". | Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Catholic leader Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor say religion in society can be "radically inclusive". |
Their comments come in a report by new religious think tank Theos. | Their comments come in a report by new religious think tank Theos. |
The National Secular Society said religion in the public domain was often "divisive and discriminatory". | The National Secular Society said religion in the public domain was often "divisive and discriminatory". |
Religiously-inspired public engagement need not be sectarian, and can in fact be radically inclusive Dr Rowan Williams and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor | Religiously-inspired public engagement need not be sectarian, and can in fact be radically inclusive Dr Rowan Williams and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor |
The report, called Doing God: A Future for Faith in the Public Square, argues against limiting religion to the private sphere. | The report, called Doing God: A Future for Faith in the Public Square, argues against limiting religion to the private sphere. |
In their joint foreword to the report, Dr Williams and Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor say: "Many secularist commentators argue that the growing role of faith in society represents a dangerous development. | |
"However, they fail to recognise that public atheism is itself an intolerant faith position. | "However, they fail to recognise that public atheism is itself an intolerant faith position. |
"If we pay attention to what is actually happening in the United Kingdom and beyond, we will see that religiously-inspired public engagement need not be sectarian, and can in fact be radically inclusive." | "If we pay attention to what is actually happening in the United Kingdom and beyond, we will see that religiously-inspired public engagement need not be sectarian, and can in fact be radically inclusive." |
Faith interest | Faith interest |
The report comes after controversy over faith schools, with the government dropping proposals to make them accept pupils from non-religious backgrounds. | The report comes after controversy over faith schools, with the government dropping proposals to make them accept pupils from non-religious backgrounds. |
Meanwhile, atheist Oxford University professor Richard Dawkins's book The God Delusion has become a best-seller. | Meanwhile, atheist Oxford University professor Richard Dawkins's book The God Delusion has become a best-seller. |
Theos director Paul Woolley said society was undergoing "rapid de-secularisation", and interest in faith was increasing in Western countries. | Theos director Paul Woolley said society was undergoing "rapid de-secularisation", and interest in faith was increasing in Western countries. |
However, National Secular Society vice-president Terry Sanderson said religious intolerance in the UK came "almost exclusively from Christian evangelicals and minority faiths". | However, National Secular Society vice-president Terry Sanderson said religious intolerance in the UK came "almost exclusively from Christian evangelicals and minority faiths". |
"The more Britain becomes a society in which competing religions jostle for power and religious observance continues to decline, the greater the case for a secular society where everyone is treated equally - regardless of religion or none - especially by the state," he said. | "The more Britain becomes a society in which competing religions jostle for power and religious observance continues to decline, the greater the case for a secular society where everyone is treated equally - regardless of religion or none - especially by the state," he said. |
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