PREJUDICE STEMS FROM THE WAY WE DISCUSS FAITH

The Bishop of Leicester's First Person column appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Prejudice stems from the way we discuss faith

The Bishop of Leicester says society's superficial treatment of religion can be very dangerous

Just before the election Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, was asked by the Radio 4 presenter Eddie Mair: "In a television debate you volunteered you are not a man of faith. Why don't you believe?"

Nick Clegg's answer began with a few seconds of stunned silence followed by "Em – gosh – that's one of the most difficult questions I think I can imagine… I… why do, why do I not know… whether God exists or not... it's not something, it's not something…"

Many people find it extremely difficult to speak confidently about their faith and why they do or do not believe in God. This week, Baroness Warsi, a member of the House of Lords and co-chair of the Conservative Party, gave a high-profile speech at the University of Leicester which hit the national headlines.

At the heart of her speech was criticism directed at aspects of society, including the media, about the lack of ability when it comes to discussing faith issues.

In her speech Baroness Warsi said that prejudice against Muslims is growing and she blamed "the patronising, superficial way faith is discussed in certain quarters, including the media".

Perhaps this concern with the superficial way in which faith is often discussed explains why Baroness Warsi has agreed to be one of the panel of judges of a new writing prize for young people launched this week by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The prize is called "Faith in the World" and its purpose is to help younger people develop their ability to speak about faith. It also aims to help young people use this new-found ability to contribute their faith perspective to public debate on issues such as money or the environment.

This year the "Faith in the World" competition is inviting young people aged between 13 and 21 to submit essays about how faith relates to some of the big national topics and competition titles include "Does God care about global warming?" and "The Bible says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Can money make you happy?"

Ibrahim Mogra, a leading Leicester imam and chairman of the mosques and community affairs committee at the Muslim Council of Britain, supported the comments made by Baroness Warsi.

He too is concerned about the anti-Muslim messages in the media and regrets the fact that Muslims' positive contributions to British society attract less coverage.

Building communities of people who get on well together and feel that they belong is central to the well being of our society. Society, including the media, has a vital part to play in this by avoiding discussion which risks dismantling the very fundamentals of a civilised world.