Christians ‘left out as Labour favours Islam’

CHRISTIANITY is being sidelined in Britain because Labour is concentrating on minority religions such as Islam, it was claimed yesterday.

Under fire Hazel Blears and Dr Williams Under-fire Hazel Blears and Dr Williams

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said the revelations in a new academic report were “depressing”.

 

It claimed Labour is taking for granted the good work done by the Church of England.

It highlighted the bias towards religions such as Islam,  and said the Charity Commission focused on what minority communities achieved “to the relative exclusion of the Christian church”.

The report said: “We encountered on the part of Government a significant lack of understanding of, or interest in, the Church of England’s contribution in the public sphere.

“Indeed, we were told that the Government had consciously decided to focus its evidence gathering almost exclusively on minority religions.”

Reacting to the findings, Dr Williams said: “It reveals a depressing level of misunderstanding of the scale and quality of contribution that faith-based organisations make to the civil and civic life of our nation – our common good.

“This is particularly true in relation to the contribution of the Church of England.”

The study follows controversial comments at the weekend by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears who said it was “common sense” to dedicate more effort to Islam because of the threat of extremism.

The report by the Von Hugel Institute at Cambridge University found that minority religions did not appreciate the attention lauded on them by ministers – instead feeling they were being victimised. The study also accused the Government of failing parts of society with its approach to faith communities and social policy.

It urged the Government to appoint a Minister for Religion, Social Cohesion and Voluntary Action who would also serve as the Prime Minister’s faith envoy.

The study’s authors said that during their research they encountered a Church of England that, relative to its size, made “extensive contributions” to the civic health of the nation.

Bishops carried out “countless activities” such as fundraising and sitting on governing bodies of schools or colleges.

And cathedrals offered great potential for social action and education as well as being centres of prayer.

The report said: “Despite this immense and long-standing involvement by the Anglican Church, the Government, with notable exceptions, has consistently failed to pay more than enthusiastic lip service to its role in society.”

The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop for Urban Life and Faith, who commissioned the report, said: “I do not think the Church of England is very good at actually selling itself.  In fact, we spend a lot of time bemoaning the fact that people say we are ‘declining’ without recognising the immense contribution that we make as the largest voluntary organisation in the country.

“That sense of our activity is often, I would almost say always, forgotten.”

But Ms Blears remained unrepentant last night. She said: “This is an unfair attack on the Government.

“We engage with the Church of England on a regular basis, as we do with all other faiths. In fact, we met with them recently to discuss faith work and I met with the Archbishop of Canterbury only a few months ago when he helped us to launch our inter-faith strategy consultation.

“The Government recognises and welcomes the great contribution made by people motivated by their different faiths and our new inter-faith strategy, to be published in July, will set out further our commitments on this important agenda.

“We will also be looking at the important role of faith groups, including Britain’s churches, in our forthcoming White Paper on Community Empowerment.”

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