OPEN MEETING: WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

This evening the Council of Faiths co-hosts an open meeting on Weapons of Mass Destruction at St Philip's Church Hall, Evington. This meeting is being held in association with St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society and the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group.

This is the fifth in a series of such meetings, on topics of interest to people from all sorts of communities across the city. I've posted on this blog about the three earlier meetings:

• Hate Crime and the Criminal Justice System, 27 February 2013
• Faith in Family, 20 November 2012
• God in My Faith, 13 March 2012
• Open Meeting with City Mayor, 31 January 2012

The speaker this evening is Bruce Kent, who is in Leicester today on the latest leg of his Scrap Trident Tour.

There are more than 60 people in attendance, though you could count those who are members of the Council of Faiths on the fingers of one hand. Most of the people here would appear to be drawn from local CND or Leicester Secular Society.

Bruce Kent (in that jumper) with Revd Sonya Brown

We are welcomed by Revd Sonya Brown, Curate at St Philips Parish Church. This is followed by an introduction by Revd Pete Hobson, Co-Chair of the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group.

I've not attempted to make a full record of Bruce Kent's talk. His position on this topic is well known, to put it mildly. Here are a few points, however, that stuck out for me:

• He emphasised that he is interested not so much in the elimination of nuclear weapons as in the elimination of war.
• He discussed how the idea of Weapons of Mass Destruction have a history that goes much farther back than Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• He asserted that the moral and religious arguments are barely worth discussing - self-evidently against weapons of mass destruction.
• He posited that the argument carrying most weight at the moment is the economic one - as a country, we cannot afford these weapons.

Daud Sameja, Co-Chair of the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group, invites questions and comments from the audience. This part of the session lasts more than 45 minutes.

Suleman Nagdi makes a contribution that brings to mind a speech given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá almost exactly 100 years ago. This is entitled, "The Cruel Indifference of the People Towards the Suffering of Foreign Races", published in Paris Talks.

The question of how to reach young people with this message comes up early. Amongst a flurry of comments about how young people are apathetic and not informed or interested in big issues such as nuclear disarmament, I ask how many of us had seen Doctor Who this weekend. "Cold War" was set on board a Soviet nuclear submarine in 1983. While not especially strong on historical veracity (with a Martian Ice Warrior on board, threatening to set off the submarine's arsenal) but it certainly would have foregrounded the subject in the minds of its more than six million viewers, by far the majority of whom will have been children and young people. Only two of those present has seen it (just Pete Hobson and me); there was a kind of positive bafflement on many faces, that something unexpected has happened to increase young people's awareness - and, potentially, their interest - in this issue.

When I get to the front and take the microphone in my own right, to ask Bruce Kent what single thing has give him the greatest personal satisfaction during more than 25 years of campaigning. He has to rack his brains for an answer and when he does come up with one, it would appear to be a surprise to most of us here. He picks the honour paid to Franz Jägerstätter (who refused to serve in the army under Nazi rule) recently in Linz Cathedral, Austria.

While at the microphone, I mention that the one previous occasion I had met the speaker was in 1984, when he undertook a peace march from Faslane to Aldermaston. This started off near where I lived at the time, in Dumbarton, and I walked with Bruce Kent on the first day, from the nuclear submarine base (and peace camp) at Faslane to the town hall in Dumbarton, where there was a small civic reception. On that occasion, I presented him with a copy of The Promise of World Peace, which was only recently published and which we had a good record of distributing around the town and district.

At the end of the meeting this evening, a couple came up to me and said that they had organised that walk in 1984 and had done the whole route themselves, so we must have met on that day, 29 years before. Unfortunately for me (and for you, faithful reader), they were whisked away when my back was turned, so I managed to get neither a photograph nor their names.

INTER FAITH WEEK 2012, DAY 3: "FAITH IN FAMILY" SEMINAR

I didn't get to attend this meeting as I was manning my post at the exhibition in Highcross till 2000. I'm grateful to guest contributor Sughra Ahmed (photo above), who organised this meeting. Sughra writes:

Leicestershire Police HQ was the venue for Faith in Family, our special seminar for Inter Faith Week.

People from all walks of life from across the City and County came together to listen, share and debate topics such as inter faith marriage, protection of children and young people, as well as parenting and spousal relationships. 

Speakers from Leicestershire and Bedford included Rosalind Birtwistle, Nassera Butt and Batool al Toma - all of whom are experts on their topic. They spoke openly and frankly about their experiences drawing on official data and sources available for England and Wales.

Several members of faith groups went on stage as a panel to share their thoughts on how their religion reflects on such topics.

The discussion was vibrant and lively, people's honesty gave rise to a thorough discussion on how society and institutions could better support those whose lives included challenges and/or difficulties. For example questions were asked on how we can improve the way in which we understand those who have an inter faith marriage and are dealing with unique challenges rather than stereotyping them. Others expressed their thoughts on how Youth Offending Services could negotiate its way around the complex terrain of faith in a restricted environment that serve to punish whilst protecting the rights of people in their custody.

The overall sentiment from those who attended was that these issues are very important for all of us - no matter who we are. Further discussion was encouraged especially given that many people are living through these realities with very little of the complexities involved known about in wider society. Leicester Council of Faiths is glad to have held a seminar on the topic of Faith in Family, and especially pleased to see the appetite for more discussion. We hope others will consider creating opportunities for further discussion on these subjects and we look forward to working with others on these or other areas.

This is the third in the series of open meetings sponsored by Leicester Council of Faiths. I've posted about the other two on this blog: God in my faith, 13 March 2012; Open meeting with City Mayor, 31 January 2012.

LEICESTER COUNCIL OF FAITHS AGM 2012

Leicester Council of Faiths holds its Annual General Meeting this evening at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Gipsy Lane. These aren't the minutes of the AGM (which I record) but I've reproduced a few things here that are of relevance to me and (I hope) of interest to you, faithful reader.

Before the meeting proper begins, attendees are given a guided tour of the Mandir by Narendra Waghela (which I miss, because I'm laying out the room for the meeting) followed by refreshments (which I don't).

The meeting proper is opened by the Chair, Cllr Manjula Sood, who welcomes attendees, particularly our Patron, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester and his wife Wendy. The Chair asks Bishop Tim to offer an opening prayer.

The Chair singles out former Chairs and honorary life members attending this evening: Fayyaz Ahmad, TV Majoria and Dr Attaullah Siddiqui. She reminds attendees that this is Leicester Council of Faiths' 25^th anniversary year and describes some of the events and activities in Leicester over the past year in which the Council of Faiths has played a part or which have impacted on the organisation and our role in the city. These include changes in the funding landscape; higher profile of far right groups; the visit by HM The Queen to start her Diamond Jubilee in Leicester; the Olympics and Paralympics; public celebration of various faith festivals; active participation in the third national Inter Faith Week.

Bishop Tim gives his keynote speech on the topic, “The Recession and its Effects on Inter-Faith Relations”. His main points are listed below:

• Massive increase in dependence on food banks as practical indicator of effect of recession
• Ever-increasing pressure on those who are dependent on the State
• Poverty is a moral issue, a religious issue, particularly poverty affecting children
• Personal realisation of impact of Welfare Reform Bill in debate in House of Lords
• Media response focuses on why unelected, unrepresentative, privileged bishops should be speaking out on behalf of poor people; questioning the right of the bishops to speak out on this (or any other) issue
• Recession is being used to create conflict and suspicion among and between communities
• Ongoing tension at Thurnby Lodge estate is stoked by connection to national narratives
• “Marketization” of our lives gathering pace (e.g. in services such as education healthcare, and – in more extreme forms – in examples such as paid adoption and fostering, sale of body parts)
• Growing opposition in the public sphere to moral and  spiritual values
• The “floppiness” of our “spiritual muscle” because people of faith have not had to fight for the right, or contend with the prevailing orthodoxy like we have to do today.
• Three points to go on our agenda for attention in the immediate future:

• What are the practical expressions of our shared responsibilities?
• What are our educational responses in terms of creating civic character?
• What is our political (with a small “p”) positioning in relation to local governance? How does Leicester City Council experience Leicester Council of Faiths as a partner, a creative interlocutor in helping our city flourish in these difficult times?

The Chair thanks Bishop Tim for his presentation. He's able to respond to a few questions from the floor before he and Wendy give their apologies and take their leave of the meeting.

David Batchelor, Trustee of Citizen’s Advice Bureaux in Leicester, is given the floor. He has come to the AGM to encourage members of faith communities to assist Citizens’ Advice Bureaux by helping them tap into our networks, so that CABs can more fully reflect the make-up of Leicester today. The Chair thanks David for his presentation. He takes questions from the floor, then gives his apologies and leaves the meeting.

I briefly present my report of activities over the past year, which was included in the AGM papers. I refer members to a fuller version of this report to be found on his blog (where individual entries about most of the activities contained in the report are also posted).

I support the Secretary’s appeal that more members of the Council of Faiths make greater effort to attend meetings, many of which are routine and scheduled well in advance and would benefit from involvement of members from a variety of faith communities. This would free me to do the equality and diversity work, which has not decreased in its demands, despite my post being reduced to part-time from the beginning of October.

This leads to discussion of how to encourage the spirit of participation and sense of collective responsibility among members, to carry on existing work and extend it into new areas. There's a recognised tension of representation versus participation, “faith leaders” versus community workers, the role of paid staff in relation to volunteer members. As increasing opportunities have arisen for members of faith communities to take part in public activities (e.g. the exhibition in Highcross during Inter Faith Week, occasional schools visits, events held by our partners and funders) our members have more often than not been unavailable and representatives of faith communities have had to be recruited from outside our membership. Organisations and agencies with whom we work are often unclear about whether our members are representing the interests of their own faith communities or representing Leicester Council of Faiths itself. It's acknowledged that many of our members themselves may be unclear about this dichotomy. This has implications for our ability to justify continued funding from City Council and applications for future funding from other sources. It was agreed that the Board should make particular efforts to rectify this situation in the year ahead.

Funding has been reduced so that the only source of income is our support from Leicester City Council. This has impacted on the Council of Faiths' ability to retain staff, with both members of staff currently working on reduced hours (and reduced hourly rates). We have been assured that funding from Leicester City Council will continue until the end of 2012. This gives the opportunity to seek alternate and new sources of funding . In the meantime, there are two areas in which fundraising can be consolidated: payment of individual member subscriptions and asking members to approach their own communities (and the organisations within some of them) to ask for donations of at least £100 for the year.

Under Any Other Business, the meeting is reminded of the upcoming Faith in Family seminar (Tuesday 20 November 2012 at Leicester Police HQ, Enderby). This is our latest Open Meeting as well as part of our activity for Inter Faith Week.

Alex Keller informed the meeting of his retirement as representative of Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation. Chair thanked him for his long-standing involvement and valued contributions to the Council of Faiths.

In closing the AGM, the Chair thanks those who have given particular service to the Council of Faiths in the past year, including Officers (Fayyaz Suleman, Vice Chair; Inderjit Gugnani, Secretary; Kehar Singh, Assistant Secretary; Tony Nelson, Treasurer) and staff (Ajay Aggarwal, Co-ordinator;  Your's Truly). She proposes a special vote of thanks to our friends at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir for their hospitality this evening. The meeting thanked the Chair for her services over the past year.