THE BIG QUESTIONS, LIVE FROM LEICESTER

BBC One's The Big Questions is broadcast live from Samworth Enterprise Academy, Leicester, this morning. I've said before that I'm no fan of this kind of show and have turned down several invitations to appear on them over the years. While I’m all in favour of honest open discussion, I favour more the statement attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, that “if two people quarrel over some religious subjects, both of them are wrong.” I make an exception for today’s broadcast and watch it for the sake of the blog. I wrote about a previous edition of the programme broadcast from the same venue. There's a change in the format this time in that there's no panel of experts out front (which I think is an improvement). Nicky Campbell hosts the programme, on which three "big questions" are discussed:

1. "Is it time for the police to favour black candidates?"
2. "Is criticism of Israel anti-Semitic?"
3. "Should gay couples be allowed to marry?"

I recognise several members of the audience. Leicestershire Sikh Alliance was well represented by Raj Mann (who spoke on the first topic), Harjit Singh (who spoke on the second topic), Kartar Singh (who raises his hand to speak several times, but to no avail) and Jasdeep Singh Lamaar. Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Assiatant Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, spoke on the second and third topics. Revd Canon Dr David Jennings, Vicar of Burbage, spoke on all three topics. Also in the audience is Resham Singh Sandhu, former High Sheriff of Leicestershire and former Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths. Last time I watched this show, there were several members of Leicester Secular Society in the audience. This time round, though, I don't see anyone I recognise from the Secular Society.

I don't like how shouty and bad tempered these programmes can become. That's not the best way to address religious, ethical and moral issues in the public eye. A big part of the reason why I have generally negative feelings about The Big Questions is the fact that, while it is undoubtedly worthwhile for it to travel the country and come from a different locality each week, the people who make the major contributions to the discussion and the groups they represent are not from the area. That might be considered fair enough, since the topics discussed are national or international in nature. For instance, while discussing the first question, Nicky Campbell refers to the 2011 Census results for Leicester (admittedly, in a rather "off the cuff" manner) backing up the conventional and historical argument that it's important for the police force to be representative of the community they are policing. I would say it’s not right that there's no one in the studio from Leicestershire Police, nor any statement from them or any description of the nature of diversity within Leicestershire Police (figures for which are readily available; I've got them and so has just about everyone else in Leicester and Leicestershire who is interested). There’s no one from the Jewish communities of Leicester (nor anyone from Leicester involved in the Palestinian issue) to engage with the second question. A similar argument goes for the third topic. I can say that because I know the local scene well enough to be able to spot the “well kent faces” (or those conspicuous by their absence). But the casual viewer inside or outside Leicester might be led to the conclusion that they’re getting a sense or flavour of how these issues play in Leicester, when that’s not the case.

TOO MANY SCHOOLS IN CHURCH HANDS?

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Too many schools in church hands?

In a recent letter I made some remarks about the Church of England which Archdeacon David Newman (Mailbox, February 13) says were misleading.

But, before replying to this, I would like to take up his statement that "there is no such thing as a 'neutral' school in terms of ethos".What does he mean by "ethos" and by "neutral"? Do community schools have an ethos? We are diverse in beliefs but one in humanity.

It seems to me that the appropriate ethos for our schools would be one that starts from people and our common humanity; one that, through respect for people, respects their religions and beliefs and welcomes the contributions that they can make – a school ethos that brings children together.

What is his position on this?

Now, back to those remarks about the Church of England. I accept that most Church of England schools do not select pupils by religion. But the Church insists on its schools having the power to do this, and its Dearing report recommends having a "substantial core" of Christian pupils and teachers.

I accept that most Church schools do not directly seek to convert children.

But what should we make of those Dearing recommendations along the lines: tie the parish church, clergy and school as close together as possible; have a meaningful act of Christian worship every day; proclaim the school as CofE by external notice board, by displays of symbols inside and outside the school (the Samworth Academy includes a new parish church).

The Church of England is using state-funded schools to proclaim its own religion, not infrequently to children for whom its school is the only convenient one.

On expansion plans: last year the Bishop of Oxford, chair of the Church's National Board of Education, said that the past decade has seen "the most significant expansion of places" in the past 200 years; and the Archbishop of Canterbury remarked last September on the prospect of the Church becoming the largest "provider" of secondary education and with post offices, libraries, citizens advice centres in its schools.

David Newman himself tells us that the Church sees itself providing services to non-church schools. This expansion is from a base of one quarter of all state schools in 2001.

Is this not too great a concentration in the hands of one body?

Allan Hayes, Leicester

MISREPRESENTING SECULARISM

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Misrepresenting secularism

Bishop Tim (First Person, February 18 ) suggests that this is an opportunity to "make those who are secular feel at home".

I would welcome that: for I did not feel welcome when he kept me from speaking in the civic service as chaplain to the Lord Mayor, nor when he wrote in these pages that my beliefs were a "tale told by an idiot", nor when the Lord Mayor, Lady Mayoress and I found ourselves listening to a psalm in which the psalmist grieves about "the ungodly" prospering but is reassured knowing that they will "consume: perish and come to a fearful end!".

I do not feel welcome when he insinuates that I would get rid of spires, churches, gurdwaras and temples – he did this several years ago in correspondence over setting up the Samworth Academy – he has had ample time to learn otherwise.

And as for wanting "a secular state from which all signs of human believing have been removed" – it is very difficult to engage with fantasies.

These may be personal matters, but when we come to Baroness Warsi's Vatican Speech, we are getting to serious issues important to us all.

We have a senior figure in our government who seems not to have the first idea of political and religious history, who lacks breadth of vision, who is dangerously intoxicated and naively enthusiastic.

Her smearing and demonising of secularism is frighteningly like the demonising of Islam that she and I would both condemn – it is never plain "secularism", but always "militant and deeply intolerant secularism", "aggressive secularism imposed by stealth", "totalitarian secularism that denies people the right to religious identity", "secularism that attempts to remove all trace of religion from culture, history and public discourse".

How did she get these ideas? Not by growing up in Leicester.Humanists and secularists do not ask people to give up or diminish their faith or dumb down – we ask them to look more deeply into them and share what they can with us.

We fully recognise that religion has a role to play and that it is central to the lives of many – we have always defended and will always defend freedom of religion.

We share with the Pope the view that "the world of secular rationality and the world of religious belief... need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilisation".

We share with caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib: "Every man is your brother... either your brother in faith or your brother in humanity."

We share with Sayeeda Warsi the view that "the cultures we've created, the values we hold and the things we fight for stem from something we've argued over, dissented from, discussed and built up" – but does she have any idea what these things are? We share humanity with everyone.

Allan Hayes, Leicester Secular Society

It's ironic that, when I read Allan's letter on the Mercury website, two of the three "Ads by Google" listed immediately below it were: "How to convert to Islam" (become a Muslim with Live Help chat) and "Loft Conversion Experts".

AMPLIFIED COMMUNITIES OF FAITH OR BELIEF

This evening it's the long awaited (by me, anyway) panel presentation for Amplified Leicester at Phoenix Square film and Digital Media Centre: “Amplified Communities of Faith or Belief”. The whole presentation was recorded; you can watch it on vimeo.

Groups working in the Protected Characteristic of Religion or Belief (as described in the Equality Act 2010) are some of the biggest users users of social media. But for what purposes? Each of the panellists shows how their organisations use social media to different ends - some surprising and unexpected - related to extending spheres of influence; promoting effective social action; engaging children and young people; fostering rational discussion and debate.

In the photo above, Sue Thomas, Professor of New Media in the Institute of Creative Technologies at De Montfort University, introduces the panel (left to right, Matt Hughes, Richard Hopper, Sughra Ahmed, me).

Matt Hughes Matthew works at the Samworth Enterprise Academy, a Church of England school in Leicester which has focuses on the Christian ethos in education. He manages IT provision there, which involves response to social media. He also runs a training, design and development social enterprise called Engage Multimedia who work with various charities and community groups in the local area.

Richard Hopper Richard is a science researcher at De Montfort University. He is also Secretary of the Leicester Secular Society, the oldest active one in the world – and still based in the first meeting place in the world purpose built for secular discussion. Richard recently set up a Facebook group to promote the society. The group now has over 50 members.

Sughra Ahmed Sughra is a Research Fellow in the Islamic Foundation’s Policy Research Centre. She is a Trustee of the Interfaith Network UK and Director of Leicester Council of Faiths. She recently published Seen and Not Heard: Voices of Young British Muslims. She organised flashmob iftar during Ramadan and “Picnic in the Park” thereafter, feeding homeless people and refugees, coordinated through Facebook.

I’ve done a good job selecting interesting panellists – too good a job! Each of them gives a presentation lasting ten minutes then takes a few questions. A few too many questions maybe. The cumulative effect is that, having left myself to last, I have hardly a couple of minutes to sum up and to say something interesting about use of social media by the Council of Faiths. I hope I manage to do that; for once, less really is more!

THE BIG QUESTIONS, LIVE FROM LEICESTER

The Big Questions (series 4, episode 2) is broadcast live from Samworth Enterprise Academy, Leicester, at 1000 this morning. Harry and I crane our necks to spot the BBC Outside Broadcast trucks at the back of the school, as we go past on the way to St Thomas the Apostle Church, just before 0930.

I'm no fan of this kind of show. I wouldn't fancy going on one and I don’t like watching or listening to them either. I've seen a few, of course, enough to know they're not my cup of tea. I’m all in favour of open, honest discussion, but I favour the statement attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, that “if two people quarrel over some religious subjects, both of them are wrong.” No good ever comes from arguing about religion.

I make an exception for today’s broadcast, because Leicester Council of Faiths has been asked to put forward someone who can make a contribution to the programme, speaking about how the religion they follow is a guide for daily living. I’ve had several phone calls to and from the production office for the show, asking if we could provide someone to fill that role. We were asked if that person could be an evangelical Christian, but I sought to persuade them that such a person wouldn’t rally represent the religious diversity of Leicester and that it would be better to have a Hindu or Sikh. So that person is our own Resham Singh Sandhu. In the event, though, he's not called on to speak. That's disappointing. The show could have done with a voice of reasonable, calm authority at that point. What we get instead is a spokesman for Messianic Judaism, probably in the interest of stirring things up a bit more.

Nicky Campbell hosts the programme. I like Nicky Campbell and think he's good at this sort of thing, both on TV and on radio (though he doesn't need me to tell him that). Special guests are DameAnn Leslie, journalist and broadcaster; Jonathan Bartley, Director of the Christian think tank Ekklesia; and Myriam Francois Cerrah, Oxford UniversityIslamic Society.

I count 68 people in the studio audience (not including the host and the three special guests out front). Apart from Resham, I recognise Allan Hayes, Mike Burden and Richard Hopper (all three of Leicester Secular Society) and ... well, that's all actually. When Nicky Campbell names one of those making a number of contributions as David Jennings, I can add another to the list (Rev. Canon David Jennings, Vicar of St Catherine's Church, Burbage; I knew the name but not the face until today).

Three "big questions" are discussed today:

1. Will bankers go to heaven?
2. Would pre-nups undermine marriage?
3. Is Islam a better guide for life?

In connection with that first question (which many of those involved seem to take literally rather than metaphorically), one contributor states that, "There are 2,350 verses in the Bible about misuse of wealth and property and only 500 on prayer and faith." The segment addressing the third question gets a bit testy and shouty. That part pretty much exemplifies the things I don't really care for in this type of show. When I speak to Allan Hayes the next day and ask him his impression of having been there, he says it was like "observing a family row".

I'm unhappy how the show gives the impression that these people are from Leicester, that these are the topics exercising us and that this is how we conduct our relations here. Most of them are not from round here, we're not knocking ourselves out over these issue and we don't go about our business like this. I'm not sure that giving such an impression is good for Leicester or its image nationwide.

small request for The Big Questions

I take a call this afternoon at the Welcome Centre from Amanda Egbujo. She's a Producer with Mentorn TV, working on the religious affairs programme "The Big Questions", in which Nicky Campbell (photo above) hosts a series of religious, moral and ethical debates. The next edition will be broadcast live from Samworth Enterprise Academy in Leicester this coming Sunday (16 Jan). The show goes out on BBC1 at 1000.

The programme will focus in part on Islam as a guide for daily living. Amanda asked if the Council of Faiths could provide someone from another of the city's faith communities to speak about how their own faith guides them in daily life. She agrees that a Hindu or Sikh would be appropriate, being Leicester's next largest "minority" faith communities. If we're unable to offer anyone from either of those two communities, I'm sure she'll be happy to have someone from another faith background, as long as they can do the business on live TV.

I tell Amanda that if we are able to offer someone, then it would not be for purposes of argument, dispute or controversy – that the Council of Faiths is not in the business of promoting division or dissension between the faith communities. She told me she's happy with that.

When Amanda gives me her office number, I realise that she’s calling from Glasgow. She has a Scots accent and remarks upon mine (and my guid Scots surname). So I take the opportunity to tell her a wee bit about my having started inter faith work in Glasgow when I was 19 (!) and how I still keep in touch with how that sort of thing is going up there. Of course I ask her to read the blog – I’m sure she recognises that well-worn phrase (well-worn by me, anyway), “Not backwards at coming forwards”.

I’ve sent out an email asking for someone suitable to come forward; now waiting to see what kind of response will be forthcoming. By coincidence, at that very time on Sunday mornings (well, every other Sunday, including this one) I'm sitting in the cafe of TESCO, South Wigston, reading the Observer or marking assignments from my Open University students, after dropping off Harry at St Thomas the Apostle where he sings in the choir. That's only half a mile or so from Samworth Enterprise Academy.


Image Source Page: http://www.mentorn.tv/

AMPLIFIED LEICESTER PANEL LINEUP CONFIRMED

This is the last day on which I can confirm the line up for the panel I've been asked to curate for Amplified Leicester in March next year. My topic is "Amplified Communities of Faith or Belief". The title, my name and that of the Council of Faiths has been included on the A5 flyer promoting the programme for 2010-11, but I've been asked to firm up the panellists and a description of the kind of contributions they will be asked to make.

I get confirmation of the last member this afternoon: Richard Hopper, Secretary of Leicester Secular Society. Richard has just launched a Facebook page for the society, which currently has 50 fans. Effectively, the Secular society is dipping its toe in the waters of social media. Richard joins the other two members of the panel, Matt Hughes (IT manager at Samworth Enterprise Academy, with special responsibilities to pupils and staff in relation to social media) and Sughra Ahmed (Islamic Society of Britain, who helped organise a series of flashmob iftar meetings in Victoria Park, helping feed homeless people and destitute asylum seekers, all coordinated through Facebook).

Find out more about Amplified Leicester:
http://ampleic.ning.com/

TRAINING WITH ENGAGE MULTIMEDIA

To Samworth Enterprise Academy (photo above) this afternoon, for a free taster training session with Engage Multimedia. Becky Sanderson and Matt Hughes present short, bright and informative sessions on desktop publishing and social media respectively, to four of us, from different charitable organisations.

Despite the fact that I've used computers at work since the late 1980s, I've barely got past the most basic applications and have never had the chance to expand my skillset beyond fairly straightforward wordprocessing. I hope that I'll get the chance now to get a little further down the road!

I've met Becky a few times at various functions at Phoenix Square and met Matt for the first time at the most recent amplified Leicester session. As Matt is in charge of the website and other ICT functions at Samworth Academy (a Church of England school and one of the most prominent faith-led institutions in the area), I ask him if he would consider being on the panel for the session on "Amplified Communities of Faith and/or Belief" that Prof Sue Thomas has asked me to lead for Amplified Leicester in March next year. The fact that he'll be organising local projects for NetSquared (to which we were introduced by Amy Sample-Ward at the last Amplified session) will enhance his credibility for such an occasion. I am glad to say that Matt receives my request positively.