sign the pledge

An invitation to Leicester Cathedral this morning, for the public signing and launch of a pledge that the city’s faith communities stand together in the face of the controversial demonstration by the English Defence League (EDL) a week tomorrow. Originating with the Faiths Leaders Forum, which is chaired by the Bishop of Leicester, the pledge will be available in the Cathedral over the coming week for people of all faiths (and of none) to come in and sign. The text of the pledge is as follows:

We, leaders and members of faith communities in Leicester, value highly the diversity of the city and the contribution different communities make to the wellbeing and quality of life in our city. We condemn all who seek to divide and sow seeds of distrust between our communities. In particular we condemn, in the strongest terms, the activities of the English Defence League, directed against out Muslim brothers and sisters. We also affirm that the EDL’s use of the Christian religion to support their perspective is a blasphemous misinterpretation of the Christian Gospel.

We fully endorse the words spoken by Her Majesty the Queen in welcoming Pope Benedict on his state visit:

“Your Holiness, in recent times you have said that ‘religions can never become vehicles of hatred, that never by invoking the name of God can evil and violence be justified. Today, in this country, we stand united in that conviction. We hold that freedom to worship is at the core of our tolerant and democratic society.

We will work with all people of goodwill to encourage mutual respect, valuing the dignity of every person and we encourage all citizens of Leicester to do the same.

There's a higher degree of media presence here today than I've seen at any inter-faith event in Leicester: BBC radio and TV and the Leicester Mercury are here to cover it.

Six of the eight member communities of Leicester Council of Faiths have people here to sign the pledge. I'm the only Bahá'í here, so I sign the pledge on behalf of the Leicester community. This is the first occasion on which I've identified myself as such, after more than three years in this post. But these are special times.

In the photo: representatives of the city's Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Jewish communities with the Bishop of Leicester, outside the Cathedral this morning.